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Grimes is stepping into the toy business with \u201cGrok,\u201d a character that she voiced for Curio\u2019s new line of screen-free AI plushies.<\/p>\n
The toy is not affiliated with the AI chatbot backed by Grimes\u2019 ex, Elon Musk, which is also named Grok<\/a>.\u00a0Musk described<\/a> xAI\u2019s Grok as having a \u201crebellious streak\u201d and a willingness to answer \u201cspicy questions that are rejected by most other AI systems.\u201d It\u2019ll be vulgar if you ask.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s blog<\/a>, Grimes spoke about encouraging creativity in children early through dynamic conversations, rather than a static list of prompts.<\/p>\n \u201cI 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,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n In Curio\u2019s announcement video<\/a>, Grimes said that she didn\u2019t want her kids \u201cin front of screens,\u201d but she\u2019s \u201creally busy.\u201d<\/p>\n Image Credits:<\/strong> Curio<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Curio says that the toys can hold full conversations so that kids (or adults) can practice their communication skills. There\u2019s Grok, an anthropomorphized rocket ship voiced by Grimes. There\u2019s Gabbo, who looks like a plush Gameboy with arms and legs. And there\u2019s Grem, a cyan bunny with hearts on its cheeks. The beta versions of the toys are available for preorder<\/a> until Sunday, and are priced at $99 each. They\u2019re recommended for kids aged 3 to 7 \u2014 Grimes\u2019 oldest child with Musk, named X \u00c6 A-Xii, is 3.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I think about kids, my goal is to preserve as many minds as possible from here, and how much can we replace iPads, basically?\u201d Grimes said in the conversation with Eaton and Sallee.<\/p>\n She later added, \u201cI think the more you keep things verbal, too, the more you\u2019re sort of forcing people to use their working memory. There\u2019s all these little things that, you know, make our brains better just a little bit here and there.\u201d<\/p>\n Grimes got involved with Curio after responding to a post<\/a> about the future of AI-integrated toys, in which \u201cchildren\u2019s teddy bears will speak to them and make them feel safe at night.\u201d Grimes replied<\/a> that it would be \u201cgreat if safe,\u201d and that she\u2019d love if her kids could hang out with a \u201cculture ship mind in a teddy bear.\u201d<\/p>\n The line launched about a week after Musk\u2019s ChatGPT competitor, also named Grok, began rolling out to X Premium Plus subscribers<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cGrimes is doing the voice for the toy, and this one is a rocket who is coincidentally named Grok and predated the Grok AI announcement, so there\u2019s a funny overlap there,\u201d Sallee said in the conversation with Grimes.<\/p>\n As Business Insider reports<\/a>, Grimes\u2019 Grok was trademarked first.<\/p>\n Curio filed its trademark for Grok on September 12<\/a> this year. xAI filed its trademark for Grok on October 23<\/a>. Curio\u2019s Grok is short for Grocket, since Grimes\u2019 kids spend so much time around rockets because their father owns SpaceX, The Washington Post reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n Grimes and Musk are currently engaged in a custody battle<\/a> over their three children, and have filed child custody lawsuits against each other in California and Texas, respectively.<\/p>\n