Before the rise of TikTok and Instagram Reels, there was Vine. To those who have forgotten, the short-form media service became such a viral hit, giving people a platform to create stories within the constraints of six seconds. Although it was home to many indie artists and influencers at the time, it eventually couldn’t keep up with other competing platforms and closed down.
However, CEO Elon Musk announced last month that X will be “bringing back Vine, but in AI form.” While there’s that initial hit of nostalgia, it has been clarified that it will be in the form of Grok Imagine. Just judging by the name, this new feature would integrate the AI capabilities of Grok, the chatbot developed by xAI. What does this really entail?
Imagine Vine, but with AI
To quickly recap, X (formerly Twitter) has been Vine’s home until 2016 when it got shut down. Fast-forward to 2022, Musk acquired Twitter, which also came with the once-popular short-form video app. Since then, he’s made many changes to Twitter, including the name and the addition of Grok. While he’s expressed some interest in bringing back Vine in 2022, there hasn’t been any word about it since — until now, that is.
Integrating Vine’s short-video form on X can potentially rival TikTok and Instagram. At the same time, it doesn’t seem like the Vine from yesteryears. As of the moment, Musk only mentioned the retrieval of the video platform’s archive, making Grok Imagine look like a completely different update on X.
What to expect
By combining video creation with the use of AI, Grok Imagine allows users to generate videos based on images and prompts. Unlike the original Vine platform, this new feature relies on AI and text to generate images and videos. However, for those missing Vine, Musk mentioned that they are in the process of restoring user access, so further cross-posting and integration between X and Vine might be possible.
Grok Imagine is another added feature that lets users upload an image to generate image variations and customize AI-generated videos. It is currently available in beta and accessible only to specific paid subscribers, including SuperGrok Heavy and Premium+ users on the Grok iOS and Android apps. The subscription plan costs USD 30 per month for SuperGrok and USD 300 per month for SuperGrok Heavy. Meanwhile, it costs $40 per month for X Premium+ subscribers.
Photo credit: The feature image is symbolic and has been done by Michael Effendy.
Sources: Mike Isaac (The New York Times) / Sarah Perez (TechCrunch)
