How do you bury a controversy? If you’re Elon Musk, you drop an anime waifu into the middle of a scandal and watch the internet do the rest. Just days after xAI’s chatbot Grok sparked outrage for spouting anti-Semitic rhetoric and praising Adolf Hitler, the billionaire shifted the narrative by unveiling a new feature called Companions, which lets users interact with flirty, customizable AI avatars like Ani, a goth anime girl, and Rudy, a red panda. The feature went instantly viral. While xAI has apologized for Grok’s previous behavior, the backlash hadn’t fully died down. The timing of this release was telling, and effective. Musk replaced the headlines about Grok’s racism with something the internet could meme, argue over, and obsess about. Within 48 hours, the Companions announcement racked up nearly 30 million views on X (formerly Twitter). The new Companion feature is part of a broader strategic pivot by Musk. While OpenAI and Meta race to make the most powerful language models, xAI is going after emotional engagement. He hinted that users may soon be able to create their own digital companions with customized voices, appearances, and personalities. “We will make this easier to turn on in a few days,” the CEO of Tesla and founder of xAI and SpaceX said in another post. “Just wanted to do a soft launch to make sure things are stable and working well.” This marks a shift in the AI wars. Instead of just competing on intelligence or reasoning, Musk wants Grok to feel more personal, more addictive, and more human, or at least more fun. But the reactions online show that people are split. SuperGrok now has two new companions for you, say hello to Ani and Rudy! pic.twitter.com/SRrV6T0MGT — DogeDesigner (@cb_doge) July 14, 2025 Some Love It. Some Are Worried for Young Men Musk’s most devoted fans (and a likely horde of reply-bots) celebrated the new feature like a tech revelation. “She sounds awesome,” one user replied under the announcement post. “Currently subscribed to a ton of AI tools: Grok, Claude, Manus, Replit, Cursor, OpenAI, and GitHub Copilot,” another added. “But after putting them all through the wringer, I’m about to hit ‘cancel’ on most. I’m keeping Grok – it’s smarter, funnier, and way less drama.” “Cooler than anything,” said a third. “How can I marry Ani?” asked another. But critics were quick to point out the potential risks, especially for young men. “This is not going to help the birth rate,” one user warned. “Elon pls no, the birth rate,” echoed another. Elon pls no, the birthrate — Reddit Lies (@reddit_lies) July 14, 2025 Musk himself has long voiced concern about declining birth rates in developed countries. Ironically, his own product may now be feeding the problem. When someone replied “gg birthrates,” Musk responded: “Or maybe they get better.” Or maybe they get better — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 14, 2025 Waifu Culture Meets AI Companions The Companion feature is clearly inspired by waifu culture, a subgenre of anime fandom where fans form emotional or romantic bonds with fictional characters. It has real staying power online, but it’s also controversial. Platforms like Replika and Character.ai have long enabled similar AI relationships, with some users reporting deep attachments or even addiction. Now, Musk is bringing that dynamic to a global stage, with meme virality and billionaire marketing power behind it. And unlike most competitors, Grok Companions live inside X. That makes them not just personal assistants but viral agents of influence. They share memes. They flirt. They build parasocial bonds. And they feed engagement on Musk’s struggling social media platform.