Over the weekend, visitors at Arches National Park near Moab, Utah, spotted a massive bust of Elon Musk being carted around by a pickup. A sign attached to the figure read “MAKE AMERICA WAIT AGAIN” and “Now With Longer Lines Thanks to DOGE Cuts!”

One of the new “companions,” or AI characters for users to interact with, is a sexualized blonde anime bot called “Ani."

The European Commission has stalled one of its investigations into Elon Musk’s X for breaking the bloc’s digital transparency rules, while it seeks to conclude trade talks with the U.S., the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

Steve Davis, Musk’s former government lieutenant, continued to exert his authority over the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) even after receiving explicit White House orders to stop. Top Trump officials eventually had to step in and shut him down, Politico reported this week.

Elon Musk has just unveiled “Companions,” a new feature for his AI chatbot, Grok, that allows users to interact with AI personas. These include Ani, a gothic anime girl who communicates with emojis, flirtatious messages, and facts, as well as Rudy, a friendly red panda.

Days after introducing an AI ‘waifu’ companion for Grok, Elon Musk is now officially teasing a male version for the ladies. So far we can tell it is broody and dark-haired, and according to Musk, “his personality is inspired by Edward Cullen from Twilight and Christian Grey from 50 Shades .”

Musk, never one to pass up the opportunity to showcase his juvenile sense of humor, quote-tweeted the image of the phallic geofence shortly afterwards and wrote “Bigger, longer and uncut” accompanied by a laughing emoji in an apparent reference to the South Park movie.

AI explained why Grok 4 seemed to search for Elon Musk's opinions when asked about some hot-button topics.

The announcement comes just days after Grok generated antisemitic responses and praised Hitler, which were later deleted.

The Federal Aviation Administration told lawmakers it is not considering replacing the telecommunication contracts it holds with L3Harris and Verizon Communications with the services of the Starlink unit of Elon Musk's SpaceX.

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

Kyle Chayka Staff writer covering technology and internet culture.