Elon Musk is once again stirring the pot, this time by opening the floodgates to NSFW content on xAI. The move has sparked jubilation from fans, outrage from critics, and no shortage of attention.
Most major AI platforms avoid NSFW entirely, preferring to steer clear of the intense public scrutiny that spooks investors and venture capital (VC) vice clause violations that prohibit them from engaging in certain industries.
But this is exactly why Elon Musk’s move makes brilliant business sense. By steering into the category, warts and all, xAI gains a clear leg up on competitors, training its models on deeply human interactions while simultaneously locking in loyal users.
AI companions see us in our most human states
NSFW features invite uniquely candid conversation. People share their deepest desires, insecurities, and fantasies in ways that rarely appear in other AI chats. That kind of input gives models that employ them a fuller signal about tone, context, and social cues. Such models learn how to shift registers, when to hold back, and how to respond with care.
Just as romantic relationships teach humans useful skills for navigating other human interactions, NSFW features will improve AI’s other touchpoints with us. A model that can navigate flirtation and boundary setting, for example, will also be better at supportive dialogue, coaching, and creative collaboration. As models refine their sensitivity to timing, word choice, and memory, they’ll become more potent tools in fields like education, wellness, and customer support. These models will become experts at not only producing correct answers, but sustaining a conversation that feels natural.
xAI benefits by building products that elicit this depth. NSFW sessions run longer, language is more expressive, and feedback is constant. Over time, these models will adapt to human complexity instead of a narrow list of tasks.
Emotional engagement builds loyalty
In the AI arms race, retention will be one of the biggest deciding factors. People stay with products that recognize them, remember their preferences, and speak in a consistent voice. In other words, users want to feel like they’re talking to a real intelligence, rather than just an intelligent tool.
Leaning into companionship, particularly with NSFW features enabled, is a shortcut to building emotional attachment with users and keeping them retained. This approach will open doors for xAI across other product lines. A companion that earns trust can introduce wellness tools, creative apps, and gaming features with far less friction. Daily interactions with users will build habits that carry into the rest of the xAI ecosystem.
Attachment also becomes a moat: “pay the subscription fee, or your AI lover ceases to exist.” In a market of increasingly commoditized AI models, it’s easy to switch to a new platform for your personal assistant needs, but much harder to replicate the emotional bond you formed with an AI companion.
NSFW content drives revenue
AI companion apps, such as virtual boyfriends and girlfriends, are a relatively new sensation, but they have already skyrocketed to over $120 million in global revenue. And with adults spending over $1.3 billion on adult websites in 2025 in the U.S. alone, there is plenty of room for the category to grow.
NSFW content also gives xAI a helpful way to differentiate its Grok offering from competing (and arguably more capable) models, which by and large ban adult content and are increasingly looking for ways to limit growing emotional bonds with their users. xAI is pursuing a playbook that has worked across several technology cycles. Start in categories where emotion and repetition are central, then expand outward once habits take hold.
That said, generating revenue should never come at the expense of safety. In stepping into the adult category, xAI takes on the responsibility of ensuring these experiences are limited to adults, protected by strict identity and age verification, and governed by policies that ban non-consensual content, impersonation, and predatory behavior.
Building for humans
The main objective of generative AI is to build models that understand people. NSFW features are a means to that end. They give AI models exposure to people at their most vulnerable — and in a way, most human — moments, and let them practice listening, remembering, adapting, and understanding.
In meeting humans’ most basic desires, xAI is also fostering long term user loyalty (who wants to snuff out their AI boyfriend?), and building a platform for more ambitious AI initiatives.
Musk’s penis-laden approach may seem juvenile, but it’s a savvy strategy that positions xAI to leap ahead of its competitors.
