AI Plushie Grok, Voiced By Grimes, Secured Its Trademark Before Elon Musk’s Grok
Grimes ventures into the toy industry with “Grok,” a character she voiced for Curio’s latest collection of screen-free AI plushies.
The toy is not affiliated with the AI chatbot backed by Grimes’ ex, Elon Musk, which is also named Grok. Musk described xAI’s Grok as having a “rebellious streak” and a willingness to answer “spicy questions that are rejected by most other AI systems.” It’ll be vulgar if you ask.
Grok, Gabbo and Grem, on the other hand, are designed to encourage play. In a conversation with Curio founders Misha Sallee and Sam Eaton, posted on Curio’s blog, Grimes spoke about encouraging creativity in children early through dynamic conversations, rather than a static list of prompts.
“I just like the idea of bringing more imagination, or making it easy to access imagination in your kind of current existence as opposed to just observing it in other existences, like on screen or in a movie or book or something,” she said.
In Curio’s announcement video, Grimes mentioned her desire to keep her children away from screens while acknowledging her busy schedule.
Curio says that the toys can hold full conversations so that kids (or adults) can practice their communication skills. There’s Grok, an anthropomorphized rocket ship voiced by Grimes. There’s Gabbo, who looks like a plush Gameboy with arms and legs. And there’s Grem, a cyan bunny with hearts on its cheeks. The beta versions of the toys are available for preorder until Sunday, and are priced at $99 each. They’re recommended for kids aged 3 to 7 — Grimes’ oldest child with Musk, named X Æ A-Xii, is 3.
The plushies will answer questions about how rocket ships are made, play games with the user and encourage kids to develop listening and conversation skills. Encased in the plushie is a rechargeable, Wi-Fi-connected speaker and mic, which is connected to an app for parents to set up and monitor interactions with their kids.
