I have no mouth, and I must scream Groks new unhinged voice mode can curse and scream, simulate phone sex New cursing chatbot follows Elon Musk's plan to provide an "uncensored" answer to ChatGPT. Benj Edwards Feb 25, 2025 6:18 pm | 49 Credit: dvoriankin via Getty Images Credit: dvoriankin via Getty Images Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreOn Sunday, xAI released a new voice interaction mode for its Grok 3 AI model that is currently available to its premium subscribers. The feature is somewhat similar to OpenAI's Advanced Voice Mode for ChatGPT. But unlike ChatGPT, Grok offers several uncensored personalities users can choose from (currently expressed through the same default female voice), including an "unhinged" mode and one that will roleplay verbal sexual scenarios.On Monday, AI researcher Riley Goodside brought wider attention to the over-the-top "unhinged" mode in particular when he tweeted a video (warning: NSFW audio) that showed him repeatedly interrupting the vocal chatbot, which began to simulate yelling when asked. "Grok 3 Voice Mode, following repeated, interrupting requests to yell louder, lets out an inhuman 30-second scream, insults me, and hangs up," he wrote.By default, "unhinged" mode curses, insults, and belittles the user non-stop using vulgar language. Other modes include "Storyteller" (which does what it sounds like), "Romantic" (which stammers and speaks in a slow, uncertain, and insecure way), "Meditation" (which can guide you through a meditation-like experience), "Conspiracy" (which likes to talk about conspiracy theories, UFOs, and bigfoot), "Unlicensed Therapist" (which plays the part of a talk psychologist), "Grok Doc" (a doctor), "Sexy" (marked as "18+" and acts almost like a 1-800 phone sex operator), and "Professor" (which talks about science). A composite screenshot of various Grok 3 voice mode personalities, as seen in the Grok app for iOS. Basically, xAI is taking the exact opposite approach of other AI companies, such as OpenAI, which censor discussions about not-safe-for-work topics or scenarios they consider too risky for discussion. For example, the "Sexy" mode (warning: NSFW audio) will discuss graphically sexual situations, which ChatGPT's voice mode will not touch, although OpenAI recently loosened up the moderation on the text-based version of ChatGPT to allow some discussion of some erotic content.Users can also customize Grok's voice mode to act in a certain way. For example, musician Sean Lennon customized the voice mode to play the part of "Roko's Basilisk," a fictional AI character based on a thought experiment about a hypothetical superintelligent AI that might retroactively punish those who did not help bring it into existence.What we see with Grok's voice mode seems in line with Elon Musk's original plans for xAI when he founded the company last year. Musk announced that he wanted xAI's chatbots to serve uncensored and "based" answers compared to ChatGPT, which he perceives as producing outputs that are too restrictive and politically left-leaning. Already, we've seen xAI allow Grok to generate mostly uncensored images as a service available through the X social networking platform.Technologically, it's currently novel to interact with a voice AI chatbot that does not censor itself, as offered through a tech company and not as a jailbreak or open source hack. It's probably a "first" with a chatbot of this capability. And yet, in our experiments with Grok voice mode's different personalities, the voice frequently tended to repeat itself and get stuck in loops, almost as if hitting pre-programmed talking points. So, it's not nearly as smooth as ChatGPT's Advanced Voice Mode. But it is provocative, which is probably what Musk wants it to be.Benj EdwardsSenior AI ReporterBenj EdwardsSenior AI Reporter Benj Edwards is Ars Technica's Senior AI Reporter and founder of the site's dedicated AI beat in 2022. He's also a tech historian with almost two decades of experience. In his free time, he writes and records music, collects vintage computers, and enjoys nature. He lives in Raleigh, NC. 49 Comments