Billionaire Elon Musk’s ex-girlfriend and Canadian singer Grimes is working on creating an AI-powered plush toy in the shape of a rocket that can with children known as Grok. It is the first product to come from Silicon Valley startup Curio, which is utilising Open AI’s technology for a range of toys that, according to the company’s creators, will be able to hold long, fully interactive conversations with a child, making it seem almost like a friend. Ms Grimes is an investor in and adviser to the company, and she will also provide voice to the toy, as per a report in The Washington Post.
The Chief Executive Officer of the company, Misha Sallee said that the toy was designed with Ms Grimes’ children in mind. “The toy was designed for X and the other kids but X primarily because he’s of age where he can actually talk to the toy and it can talk back more effectively.” It is to be noted that SpaceX and Tesla Chief share three children with the Canadian singer. X AE A-XII was born in 2020 and is Elon Musk’s first child with Canadian musician Grimes. In 2022, the former couple also welcomed their second child via surrogate, a daughter named Exa Dark Siderael Musk. The pair have been co-parenting their children after splitting up in September 2021.
However, there is no connection between Elon Musk’s AI startup, Grok, and the toy. Curio claims that the AI product is completely unrelated and that it is the owner of the trademark for the name. Grimes and the Curio team came up with the name Grok. According to them, it’s a contraction of the word Grocket, which was created because Grimes’ children are frequently around rockets because their father owns SpaceX.
The current version of the toy is available for preorder for $99, however, the product will ship next year. At present, it requires a Wi-Fi connection. Grok is a device that Curio sees as helpful for parents. Parents can set up a bedtime prompt, for example, and Grok will enter a “bedtime mode” when the toy steers all talks with the child towards bedtime or Grok falls asleep on his own.
In addition to its two founders, Curio currently employs four full-time staff members and several contractors in the marketing and manufacturing departments. The company was established early this year. Grimes and tech enthusiasts like Daniel Gross and former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman invested in the startup during its initial stage.
