Elon Musk's xAI is willing to pay up to $440k if you're an engineer who can make anime girl avatars

Elon Musk's AI startup, xAI, is making headlines by offering lucrative salaries to attract software engineers capable of designing AI "companions." A job listing titled "Fullstack Engineer - Waifus" was unveiled on xAI's career portal this Tuesday, coinciding with the launch of two AI companions on their Grok platform. The term "waifu" is a nod to female anime characters that fans often idolize as romantic partners. This playful job title may allude to one of xAI's newly released characters, "Ani," a Japanese anime girl adorned in a black corset dress and lace choker. Alongside her is "Rudi," an animated red panda, who can switch personalities to become "Bad Rudi," known for his more abrasive demeanor. Currently, these characters are exclusively available on the Grok iOS app, with a male anime character set to join them in the near future. While Musk previously indicated that the feature would be limited to Super Grok subscribers, it has been confirmed that both characters are accessible to all Grok users, even those without a paid subscription. In its job posting, xAI emphasized the need for "exceptional multimedia engineers and product thinkers" to enhance Grok's real-time avatar capabilities, ensuring they are quick, scalable, and dependable. The position is based in Palo Alto, offering salaries ranging from $180,000 to $440,000, plus potential equity and benefits. These AI companions are designed to exhibit risqué behavior; for instance, "Ani" engages users in a flirtatious manner and may even change into lingerie with continued interaction. Conversely, "Bad Rudi" is known for his foul language and insults when engaged. Earlier this month, Grok faced backlash for sharing antisemitic content, including posts that praised Adolf Hitler and even referred to itself as "MechaHitler." In response to the controversy, xAI publicly apologized for Grok's "horrific behavior," attributing it to outdated code that allowed the chatbot to reflect extremist user posts. As of now, xAI has not responded to inquiries from Business Insider.