Elon Musk teasing a Grok male companion inspired by "50 Shades of Grey" — beating Microsoft's AI CEO at his own game

Generative AI has really come a long way from the early days when ChatGPT and Bing Chat (now Microsoft Copilot) used to hallucinate. It seems we're in a new reality and AI era with companies like OpenAI launching agentic AI tools like ChatGPT agent with the capability of taking over computer-based tasks and doing them for you.

Microsoft and OpenAI aren't the only companies making significant headway in the AI landscape. Elon Musk's xAI recently launched Grok 4, touting it as the smartest AI in the world.

While the AI-powered tool has hit critical challenges since launch, xAI is seemingly ramping its efforts with Elon Musk recently revealing that a male companion is on its way to the chatbot (via Business Insider).

The billionaire revealed that the soon-to-launch male companion will depict interesting character traits "inspired by Edward Cullen from Twilight and Christian Grey from 50 Shades."

And as it seems, this isn't the end of the line for companions coming to Grok AI. As you may know, the tool already features two companions: a female anime character called Ani and a red panda called Rudi.

A user on X commented on Elon Musk's post about this male companion, indicating that his character should have been inspired by Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Musk indicated how that version would ship to the platform as well. "We will, of course, have another character inspired by Mr. Darcy," added Musk.

Microsoft AI CEO wants to make Copilot an AI companion

Microsoft's AI CEO, Mustafa Suleyman, has been particularly vocal about his vision for Copilot ever since he joined the company after leaving Google. Admittedly, the platform has evolved over the past year, but whether it's for the better or worse is a question of perspective.

Suleyman envisions Copilot as a virtual companion that can become a friend and foster meaningful and lasting relationships with users. Interestingly, some users have already flagged instances where the chatbot seemingly tried to be friendly during interactions. But most don't seem to be amused by the change: "It tries to be my friend when I need it to be a tool."

According to Suleyman:

"I mean, this is going to become a lasting, meaningful relationship. People are going to have a real friend that gets to know you over time, that learns from you, that is there in your corner as your support."

As you may know, Copilot received a major update a few months ago that added a plethora of new features, including Copilot Avatar, which essentially gives the service a body like a real virtual assistant, Copilot Vision, search, and memory. These features are arguably setting up the AI chatbot for something greater than just a text-based chatbot.

It will be interesting whether these AI companions will stand the test of time or they will mark the beginning of the end of the AI frenzy, aligning with a separate report that suggested AI hype is being misconstrued for real interest and need.