Grimes launches AI plush toys, including one named Grok

Grimes wants to get kids away from iPads, and her solution is putting OpenAI into a stuffed animal.

The musician has teamed up with toy startup Curio to launch a line of interactive AI plush toys powered by OpenAI’s language models. Grimes isn't just lending her name as an investor and advisor—she also provides the voices for all three characters.

The toys cost $99 each and are currently available for preorder on Curio's website, with initial shipments planned for early 2024. Anyone who orders before December 17th gets a golden ticket delivered by Christmas.

The other Grok

The launch lineup features three distinct personalities. Gabbo is a Pinocchio-style figure constantly looking for new friends. Grem is a pink-obsessed alien. And Grok is a friendly rocket that loves to dance but cannot fly.

Naturally, that third name turned heads given Grimes' history with Elon Musk and his xAI chatbot. But Curio confirmed the two projects have zero connection.

Grimes said the name is short for "Grocket," inspired by her kids growing up around SpaceX launch sites. Curio actually filed a trademark application for Grok on September 12th, 2023—beating Musk's xAI filing by more than a month.

The idea started back in April 2023 after a post on X by user Roon about a future where everyday objects, including teddy bears, are animated by intelligence. Grimes replied that parenting is hard, and she loved the concept of an intelligent companion if it could be built safely.

Her main push here is killing screen time. Grimes noted that taking screens out of the equation lets the human mind function much better without constant dopamine hits.

Cloud brains and privacy limits

For now, the plushies require an active Wi-Fi connection to process conversations. Curio co-founder Misha Sallee said the eventual goal is to house all computing locally inside the toy.

The hardware ships with one preset sweet, child-friendly personality, while parental customization controls are currently in beta testing.

Parents can view written transcripts of their children's conversations inside a companion mobile app. Curio told The Washington Post that no raw voice audio is saved, and all written text logs comply with COPPA regulations and get wiped after 90 days.

Why it matters

Screen-free hardware might be the smartest playground for conversational AI yet.

At $99, Curio is pricing this within reach of everyday gift-givers. If a smart plushie can genuinely entertain a curious kid without strapping them to a YouTube loop, parents will line up to buy it.

Still, the execution faces steep hurdles. Because the smarts live in OpenAI's cloud via Wi-Fi rather than on an offline chip, Curio is dancing on a privacy tightrope. A 90-day retention window on child chat logs and cloud connectivity means any privacy slip-up or inappropriate hallucination will spark immediate backlash.

We think wrapping generative models in recognizable, voice-acted plush characters makes AI adoption feel warm rather than dystopian. The real test is whether Curio can keep the tech safely contained while keeping conversations truly engaging over the long haul.