xAI has launched Imagine for Grok—a tool that converts text prompts into 6-second videos with synchronized audio. Beta access is rolling out to paid subscribers first, with general availability scheduled for October 2025.
This guide summarizes Imagine’s capabilities, performance specs, pricing tiers, business use cases, and legal considerations, drawing from official announcements and Elon Musk’s public posts.
Table of Contents
- What is Imagine?
- Core Features and Strengths
- Pricing and Plans
- How to Use
- Business Applications
- Safety Review Checklist
- Summary
What is Imagine?
Imagine is Grok’s integrated video generation feature that creates up to 6 seconds of video with matching audio in a single pass. Following Musk’s July 24 tweet—“We’re bringing back Vine, but in AI form”—Grok announced the phased rollout on July 29, and waitlist registration opened on August 2. Full public launch is planned for October 2025.
Powered by Aurora, xAI’s proprietary autoregressive multimodal model, Imagine extends Grok’s existing image generation capability into video and audio domains.
Core Features and Strengths
Imagine delivers several key advantages:
Aurora + Colossus High-Speed Processing
SuperGrok users see preview output 2–5 seconds after submitting a prompt. The 6-second clip limit, combined with Aurora’s model architecture and Colossus supercomputer parallelism, delivers near-instant responsiveness.
This speed enables “prompt → preview → publish” workflows entirely within social feeds, letting creators post while ideas are fresh.
Automatic Audio Synthesis
Aurora simultaneously renders video frames and generates narration, background music, and sound effects, mixing them into a final audio track. Users can request specific vocal styles (“calm female narrator”) or ambient audio (“nighttime street sounds”) in the prompt. Aurora coordinates with speech synthesis models to produce dialogue and auto-adjusts lip-sync. Audio generation adds just 1–2 seconds to overall latency, preserving the fast turnaround needed for social content.
Image-to-Video Animation
Upload a still image and Aurora infers motion patterns, suggesting several animation variants. Portrait shots might blink or lean toward the camera; product images might rotate or zoom. The app also includes reference images users can select and animate with one click, exporting as looping videos.
Spicy Mode (Age-Restricted)
Age-verified users can enable adult content generation for entertainment or artistic purposes. Filtering still blocks illegal or policy-violating content, and users can toggle the mode on or off at any time in settings.
The current focus is “fastest time to fun, shareable video” rather than pixel-perfect fidelity. xAI plans to roll out higher-end quality improvements next month with upgraded models trained on the incoming 110,000 GB200 GPUs.
Pricing and Plans
Below is the pricing structure at beta launch:
| Plan | Monthly Fee | Imagine Access | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| SuperGrok | $30 | Early beta access | Priority invites |
| Premium (formerly X Premium) | $8 | Waitlist available | Rollout scheduled for public phase |
| Free | $0 | Not available | Future availability TBD |
Early beta targets SuperGrok subscribers. Upgrades are accessible in the app under “Settings > Upgrade to SuperGrok.”
How to Use
Update the Grok app to the latest version. Select “Create Images” to access the generation input field.
Enter your prompt via text or voice. Images generate within seconds. Scroll through multiple variations if the first output doesn’t match your vision.
Select an image, specify scene details or tone, then tap “Make Video” to generate the audio-synced clip in seconds.
Business Applications
Fast-turnaround video creation supports marketing, educational content, and internal communications:
- Generate product intro videos and post directly to X
- Visualize e-learning materials
- Produce teaser clips for event announcements
- Create micro-videos for staff training
Because generation and publishing happen inside the app, teams can skip external editing tools.
Safety Review Checklist
Before deploying Imagine, confirm alignment with your terms of service, age restriction policies, and internal content guidelines.
Spicy mode introduces portrait rights, copyright, and deepfake regulatory risks. Exercise caution around ethical and legal boundaries.
Imagine’s speed and realism create exposure to inappropriate content or unauthorized use of third-party likenesses. Grok faced criticism previously for generating explicit content, and xAI is currently strengthening filters and refining usage policies.
Summary
Imagine transforms text into audio-synced videos in seconds. Its 6-second format, Spicy mode, and high-speed output support a range of use cases from marketing campaigns to training materials. However, rights clearance and misuse risks demand careful review. When the October public launch arrives, we recommend starting with policy-compliant pilot projects before scaling deployment.