xAI’s Grok Imagine climbs the leaderboards

⋅

Read Online | Sign Up | Advertise

Good morning, {{ first_name | AI enthusiasts }}. Elon Musk says Grok Imagine is now generating more images and videos than everyone else combined — and it just landed at the top of the leaderboards, too.

xAI’s creative engine just debuted at No. 1 on key video leaderboards, with a speed, price, and quality combo that’s clearly resonating with creators.

In today’s AI rundown:

  • xAI’s video model climbs the leaderboards

  • Google opens its AI world generator to the public

  • Build a competitor database with Claude Cowork

  • Darren Aronofsky debuts AI Revolutionary War series

  • 4 new AI tools, community workflows, and more

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

XAI

🎬 xAI’s video model climbs the leaderboards

Image source: xAI

The Rundown: xAI just released the Grok Imagine API, a new AI video generation and editing suite that jumped to the top of Artificial Analysis rankings for both text and image-to-video outputs while undercutting rivals on price.

The details:

  • The API handles text-to-video, image-to-video, and video editing tasks, with clips up to 15 seconds and native audio baked in.

  • Grok Imagine costs $4.20 per minute with audio included, coming in significantly cheaper than Veo 3.1 at $12/min and Sora 2 Pro at $30/min.

  • Editing tools let users swap objects, restyle entire scenes, animate characters with custom performances, and shift environments on command.

  • Imagine debuts at No. 1 on AA’s text and image to video leaderboards, and comes in behind just Veo 3 and Sora Pro in Arena’s Video Arena.

Why it matters: This is an impressive move up the leaderboard for xAI, especially given the wildly low price point compared to top rivals. If the quality holds up at scale, the aggressive pricing could make Imagine the default choice for creators (and now devs to integrate into apps) who need to iterate fast without burning through budgets.

TOGETHER WITH GITLAB

🛠️ Orchestrate the work, elevate your team

The Rundown: GitLab Transcend is a free virtual event on Feb. 10th exploring how agentic AI is transforming software delivery — featuring technical demos, success stories, and an exclusive look at GitLab’s product roadmap.

At Transcend, you’ll hear:

  • How teams are using agentic AI to automate real-world DevOps workflows

  • Perspectives from tech leaders and live Q&As with GitLab project leaders

  • A first look at GitLab’s upcoming innovations and investments

Reserve your spot.

GOOGLE DEEPMIND

🌍 Google opens its AI world generator to the public

Image source: Google DeepMind

The Rundown: Google DeepMind launched Project Genie, a web app that lets users create and explore AI-generated worlds in real time — coming five months after previewing the Genie 3 model that powers it in August.

The details:

  • Users prompt a setting and a character, preview the scene via Nano Banana Pro and Gemini, then navigate an explorable world in first or third-person.

  • Characters can walk, fly, or drive through environments, with the model remembering what it’s built, so returning to areas stays visually consistent.

  • Sessions are currently capped at 60 seconds due to compute costs — with each user getting a dedicated ‘chip’ while exploring for their unique session.

  • The rollout is limited to Google’s AI Ultra tier ($250/mo) subscribers, with access set to expand to other tiers in the future.

Why it matters: The applications of world simulators like Genie 3 are endless, from robotics training and gaming to architecture, and the tech is finally at a level where users can actually experience the vision. With World Labs, Runway, Yann LeCunn’s AMI, and others also pushing forward, simulating reality is getting closer to… reality.

AI TRAINING

🧠 Build a competitor database with Claude Cowork

The Rundown: In this guide, you will learn how to set up a competitor intelligence database powered by Claude Cowork. The best part? It builds itself. Simply download the prompt files and tell Claude to set it up, and it will be ready to use in 5 minutes.

Step-by-step:

  1. Grab our free prompt files, save them in a new folder, and select that folder by heading to the “Cowork tab” in the Claude desktop app (Mac only)

  2. Tell Claude to read the SOP and set up your directory. Should take 2-3 minutes

  3. To test it out, give Claude [competitor name] + [website link]. Claude will create a report called a “killsheet” and file it away for you

  4. Run a new killsheet generation each quarter and after big competitor news

Pro tip: Ask Claude to build battlecards and comparison pages based on the killsheet!

PRESENTED BY TELY

🔎 Are you invisible in AI search?

The Rundown: You’re in a niche industry. Customers search on Google, ChatGPT, and Perplexity, but your company doesn’t show up because your website doesn’t answer their questions. Tely AI analyzes the questions your customers ask and automatically creates and publishes content that answers them on your website, bringing high-quality leads on autopilot.

With Tely AI, you can:

  • Have +20% monthly organic growth

  • Get indexed on Google, ChatGPT, and Perplexity in as little as 1 week

  • Enjoy full automation for topics, writing, and publishing

  • Get discovered by buyers already searching for your solution

Get leads from Google and ChatGPT on autopilot.

AI & HOLLYWOOD

🎬 Darren Aronofsky debuts AI Revolutionary War series

Image source: TIME

The Rundown: Filmmaker Darren Aronofsky’s AI venture Primordial Soup released “On This Day… 1776”, a new series recreating the American Revolution using Google DeepMind, with each episode dropping on the 250th anniversary of the event it depicts.

The details:

  • The short-form series combines AI-generated visuals with SAG-AFTRA voice actors, positioning itself as “artist-led” AI rather than being fully automated.

  • The series drops episodes on TIME’s YouTube channel timed to the 250th anniversary of each depicted event.

  • Aronofsky partnered with DeepMind in May to collaborate on AI storytelling, releasing the Veo-assisted film ANCESTRA in June at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Why it matters: AI video is creeping further into real production studio workflows, and moving from simple shorts and hidden tricks to hide faces to handling the entire visual process. While it still might not be fully accepted or mainstream, the sentiment is shifting — and Hollywood’s once-uneasy use of the tech is coming more into focus.

QUICK HITS

🛠️ Trending AI Tools

  • 🤖 Speechmatics – Build voice-powered products with Speechmatics’ Startup Program and get $50K to take your project to production*

  • 🌎 Project Genie – Google DeepMind’s interactive world generator

  • 🎥 Grok Imagine – xAI’s upgraded video model, now available via API

  • 🎞️ Wonda – Wondercraft’s AI agent for video editing and creative direction

*Sponsored Listing

📰 Everything else in AI today

Learn about Microsoft Foundry, an interoperable Azure platform to build, optimize, and govern AI apps and agents at scale with openness, control, and security.*

Apple acquired Q AI, an Israeli AI audio startup, in a deal reportedly worth nearly $2B that brings the founder of its Face ID technology back to the company.

OAI’s Kevin Weil clarified that the company’s IP-sharing deals would apply only to large organizations under custom agreements, not to individual users’ discoveries.

Anthropic is being sued by several music companies over alleged unauthorized use of more than 20,000 songs to train Claude, with the group seeking $3B+ in damages.

Nvidia, Microsoft, and Amazon are reportedly negotiating investments totaling up to $60B in OAI’s latest funding round, which could value the company at over $700B.

*Sponsored Listing

COMMUNITY

🤝 Community AI workflows

Every newsletter, we showcase how a reader is using AI to work smarter, save time, or make life easier.

Today’s workflow comes from reader Gabriel V. in Montreal, Canada:

“I created an automation with Microsoft Power Automate that includes the Claude API. It takes care of uploading the email we receive to the Claude API, which detects if it’s an invoice and, if so, copies it into SharePoint with the correct naming convention. It speeds up administrative work dramatically.”

How do you use AI? Tell us here.

🎓 Highlights: News, Guides & Events

See you soon,

Rowan, Joey, Zach, Shubham, and Jennifer — the humans behind The Rundown

Liked Liked