X’s Aurora Image Generator Disappears After Brief Appearance
X, the social network owned by Elon Musk, recently introduced a new image generator feature called Aurora on its Grok assistant. However, after being live for a few hours on Saturday, some users noticed that the product seemed to disappear.
Origins of Aurora
The announcement of Aurora was made by staff members at xAI, Musk’s AI startup, on X’s platform early Saturday. Despite this, the exact origins of Aurora remain unclear. It is unclear whether xAI trained Aurora itself, built on an existing image generator, or collaborated with a third party, similar to its previous image generator, Flux.
Features and Limitations
Aurora, accessible through the Grok tab on X’s mobile apps and website, has shown the ability to generate photorealistic images, including landscapes and still lifes. However, the model is not without its flaws. Users have reported issues such as objects blending unnaturally together and people appearing without fingers in Aurora-generated images.
User Experience and Restrictions
Just like the first image generator added to Grok in October, Aurora appears to have few restrictions. Users can generate images of public and copyrighted figures without issues, although graphic content like violent images are not allowed.
Recent Developments and Future Plans
The release of Aurora follows X’s decision to make Grok free for all users, previously only available to Premium subscribers. Additionally, xAI recently closed a $6 billion funding round and is reportedly working on a standalone app for Grok, along with the development of the next-generation Grok model, Grok 3.
Despite the promising features of Aurora, it seems that the image generator has been temporarily taken down from X’s platform. Stay tuned for further updates on this developing story.