Aurora, a new image generator integrated into Grok, has been introduced by X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. Owned by Elon Musk, X briefly made Aurora available to users on Saturday before it was unexpectedly taken offline for some.
Similar to the earlier image generator, Flux, Aurora operates through the Grok tab on X’s mobile apps and website. It allows users to create images of various subjects, including public and copyrighted figures such as Mickey Mouse, with minimal restrictions. However, there are limits: while explicit nudity was blocked during tests, the generator allowed graphic depictions, such as violent imagery.
Aurora appears to specialize in creating photorealistic images, including landscapes and still lifes. Despite its capabilities, some users noted flaws, such as unnatural object blending and inaccuracies in rendering human features like hands—a common challenge for AI image generators.
The development details of Aurora remain unclear. xAI, Elon Musk's AI startup that also created Grok, announced Aurora on Saturday but did not disclose whether the system was entirely built in-house, based on an existing model, or developed in collaboration with external partners. Musk previously hinted at xAI developing its own internal image generation system, and an xAI team member mentioned helping fine-tune Aurora.
“This is our internal image generation system,” Musk shared in a post, adding that it is still in beta and will improve rapidly.
Aurora’s release follows X’s decision to make Grok free for all users. Previously, the AI assistant was available only to Premium subscribers at $8 per month. Free users now have access to 10 prompts for Grok every two hours and can generate up to three images daily.
In addition to Aurora, xAI recently secured $6 billion in funding and is reportedly working on a standalone app for Grok. Speculation also suggests that the company may soon release its next-generation AI model, Grok 3.
While Aurora’s brief availability sparked interest, its temporary removal raises questions about its future accessibility and further enhancements.
