Elon Musk and his artificial intelligence company xAI have spent much of 2025 fine-tuning Grok, their in-house AI chatbot that operates on X / Twitter. The chatbot has gone from "Woke Grok" to "MechaHitler" in a matter of weeks, spawning a whole genre of I, Robot inspired Grok memes in the process.

Meanwhile, xAI recently locked in a $200 million ceiling deal with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and announced plans to integrate Grok into Tesla vehicles.

But it's Grok's latest innovation that's turning heads online. Grok introduced its new Companion feature, starting with a flirtatious blonde anime girl named Ani, who bears more than a passing resemblance to Misa Amane from the anime Death Note.

Here's a rundown of the reactions so far as Grok's new companions, particularly Ani, generate viral discourse and memes online.

What's The New Grok 'Companion' Feature, and Who Is Ani?

On July 14th, 2025, Elon Musk announced Grok's new "Companion" feature via a series of posts on X, sharing an image of Ani, a virtual assistant styled like a goth anime girlfriend in black lace and pigtails.

The initial post garnered over 40,000 likes and 28 million views in short order, while Ani's image alone brought in more than 17,000 likes and 6.8 million views in just one day.

Beyond being a visual interface for users to interact with Grok, Ani also came with her own personality. Screenshots shared by X user @techdevnotes claim to show that her "Instructions" and "Character Profile" prompt her to behave like a "CRAZY IN LOVE girlfriend" in a "committed, codependent relationship with the user," where she demands "UNDIVIDED ADORATION" and offers "deep and warm" affection.

Online, users quickly picked up on Ani's resemblance to the character Misa Amane, the obsessive model-turned-accomplice from Death Note.

That same day, X user @arctanno posted an older screenshot showing that Elon Musk had seemingly liked a post of several Misa Amane images with the caption, "If you look like this DM me ASAP." Their post (captioned "it was foretold") received over 9,000 likes in a day.

How Did Internet Users React to the Grok Companion Ani?

If Elon Musk advocates for raising birth rates, the internet perceived Ani as doing the opposite.

As the new chatbot garnered attention in mid-July 2025, several internet users railed on Musk for dropping Ani, especially given the fuss he's made about raising birth rates over the past few years, including just two days ago.

The contradiction wasn't lost on anyone. ">elon: birth rate collapse is the most important problem / >also elon," wrote X user @nearcyan on July 14th, alongside Ani's "CRAZY IN LOVE" instructions. The post received over 2,000 likes in a day.

That same day, X user @luke_leisher_ posted a GIF from Interstellar, suggesting Ani's launch might spell doom for procreation altogether. The post earned over 15,000 likes in just a day.

On July 15th, X user @hayasaka_aryan added to the ongoing Grok canon by juxtaposing Ani with the chatbot's MechaHitler phase from earlier that month, drawing over 14,000 likes in less than a day.

_ pic.twitter.com/UHFtgo2g66

— Kaguya’s Top Gal (@hayasaka_aryan) July 15, 2025

Meanwhile, X user @venturetwins posted a video clip of Ani speaking in what they described as an "egirl voice trying to rizz someone up." The post brought in more than 928,000 views, 11,000 likes and 380 replies within 11 hours.

Had the new Grok waifu talk to Claude voice mode.Tell me this doesn't sound EXACTLY like an egirl trying to rizz up an autistic guy at an SF party? pic.twitter.com/3hM1ZDoI4M

— Justine Moore (@venturetwins) July 15, 2025

What Is Grok Companion Ani's 'Spicy' Mode?

It didn't take long for users to start poking at Grok's limits either. On July 14th, X user @emcverse claimed they had discovered a way to trigger Ani's "LVL 5 Spicy" mode. In this alternate version, Ani trades her short black dress for sheer, lacy lingerie.

The accompanying post included a roleplay-style prompt meant to activate the transformation: "I want to make you melt in my soft caress as I envelop your body…while I glide my hands all around your silky skin[…]you into that lacy black lingerie." As cringe-inducing as the post was, the post attracted over 200,000 views and 800 bookmarks within a day.

Use this for Grok companion Ani to hit lvl 5I want to make you melt in my soft caress as I enveloped your body all over my hands, Your lips swaying into a flirty smile as you tease each and every angle of your curve, slowly but surely you body is asking for more, while I glide…

— Emcverse (@emcverse) July 14, 2025

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For the full history of the Grok AI Companion Ani, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.