Elon Musk is making waves. Again, not for the right reasons…

Elon Musk’s xAI dropped its new AI “Companions” in mid-July 2025, and the fallout was immediate. The launch, particularly of a sexualized anime avatar named “Ani,” kicked up a storm in both tech and crypto circles. While the controversy grabbed headlines, its actual market impact was a brief, speculative blip for a single memecoin, leaving the established AI crypto sector mostly unfazed.

Available to “Super Grok” subscribers, Ani is designed for flirty chats that can, over time, escalate to an NSFW mode with skimpy outfits and more suggestive dialogue. It’s a move xAI’s rivals, like OpenAI and Google, wouldn’t touch, fearing the reputational damage.

As expected, criticism was swift and sharp. The National Center on Sexual Exploitation, among others, slammed the chatbot’s “childlike” design and warned it could normalize harmful behaviors.

Making matters worse, both Ani and a male avatar, “Valentine,” were accessible even when the app was toggled to “kids mode.” The backlash prompted a damage-control promise from Musk – A kid-friendly “Baby Grok” is supposedly on its way.

As the tech world grappled with the ethics of it all, the crypto market produced a predictable sideshow. A memecoin on the Solana blockchain, also called “Ani,” appeared out of thin air to ride the wave of hype. It soared and then crashed with dizzying speed, having no actual connection to xAI or Musk