Since its announcement, Grok has been among the leading generative AI platforms worldwide. The reason – his quick and accurate outputs, longer processing of the context and of course a bit of wit that accompanies all his reactions. It’s easy to see the sharpness of the AI model across output formats, whether it’s text responses or image and video generation. Following on from the latter, xAI has now announced Grok Imagine 1.0, and it looks like the folks at xAI are really trying to claim the top spot for an AI video generator with this one.
Why is this so obvious? First, Imagine 1.0 offers many improvements. Whether it’s video quality, length or sound, Grok’s latest model seems to have honed its skills across the gamut. Just to imagine – Grok Imagine 1.0 now allows 10 second videos in 720p resolution. All this combined with “super smooth sound”, as the company says in its launch announcement.
Of course, there are other enablers that help Imagine 1.0 be a class apart from other AI video generators, at least from what you can see in the demos. Let’s take a look at everything new in Imagine 1.0 in this article.
What is Grok Imagine 1.0?
In case you didn’t know about Grok and its features, know that Imagine 1.0 is not its first attempt at AI video generation. xAI has offered this service for a long time with its Imagine model (read our thoughts on it here). So Imagine 1.0 simply brings a few obvious upgrades that take it to the next level as an AI video generation tool. A “quality jump” if you will.
With Grok Imagine 1.0, xAI improves three key areas of video generation: duration, visual clarity and audio quality. A big improvement is that the model now supports videos up to 10 seconds long. It even releases them in 720p resolution. More importantly, it pairs them with what xAI describes as super smooth sound. This sound will not be merged later. It is generated as part of the same output.
If you’ve tried video AI tools before, you know that these are the areas where things tend to break down. The move looks off. Frames lose consistency. The sound seems robotic or completely separate from the images. Imagine 1.0 is xAI’s attempt to solve exactly these problems.
Grok Imagine 1.0 Highlights
Here’s a detailed look at all the powerful features that Imagine 1.0 brings with it.
10 second video generation
Compared to the previous 6 seconds, Grok Imagine 1.0 now allows you to generate videos up to 10 seconds long. Needless to say, this makes it much more useful than before. This has a direct impact on the use case where the videos generated by Imagine 1.0 will be really useful for storytelling, demos and short content. Grok no longer produces mini animations useful for sharing on social networks, but real videos that can really help creators.
720p HD video output
With Imagine 1.0, Grok now produces videos in 720p resolution, offering a noticeable leap in clarity and sharpness. This makes the generated videos cleaner and more watchable, especially when viewing on larger screens or sharing across platforms.
Super soft, synchronized sound
One of the most meaningful improvements is the sound quality. The Grok Imagine 1.0 generates audio as part of the same process as the image, resulting in audio that is better synchronized and far less robotic than typical AI video outputs.
Improved movement and visual consistency
AI videos often struggled with jerky motion and inconsistent frames. Imagine 1.0 claims to improve temporal consistency, creating smoother motion and fewer visual glitches. Result? The overall output is much easier to follow and overall more believable.
Stronger instant adhesion
xAI says the Grok Imagine 1.0 tracks challenges more accurately, especially for actions, scenes and tone. This gives users more control over what actually appears in the video. This also reduces the randomness of AI output, making them more predictable and usable.
The main benchmarking model
According to xAI, the Grok Imagine 1.0 API model outperforms artificial intelligence benchmarks. This supports the quality improvement that xAI brings through solid core technical elements.
Now that we know what’s on offer, here’s how to get your hands on the new Grok Imagine 1.0.
Grok Imagine 1.0: How to get access
Imagine 1.0 is being rolled out as part of the SuperGrok package, the premium version of Grok. It now powers all image and video creation on the SuperGrok plan.
- To access it, simply visit https://grok.com/imagine. Or you can open the Grok app on your smartphone.
- Click on Imagine in the menu bar on the left (or top right on mobile)
- Enter a prompt in the chat bar.
- Imagine 1.0 springs into action and creates the required media.
Note that you will need access to the premium version of Grok to use Imagine 1.0, which brings us to the next section – Pricing.
Grok Imagine 1.0: Pricing
As already mentioned, Imagine 1.0 is part of Groka’s premium package, which goes by the name SuperGrok. Here is the price for the same:
- Monthly billing – Rs 700 per month
- Annual statement – Rs 6,500 per annum (around Rs 541 per month)
There are of course other premium features that you can enjoy with SuperGrok such as priority access during heavy load, longer chat conversations and longer voice mode and companion chats.
The good news is that Grok lets you test their premium package for free for a week. All you have to do is register and enter your billing information. Once finished, you can enjoy Imagine 1.0 in SuperGrok for one week and then decide whether you want to continue with it or not.
To help you with that decision, we tested the new Grok model and here are the results.
Grok Imagine 1.0: Hands-on
We used the following challenge to test Imagine 1.0’s image and video generation capabilities.
Challenge 1:
Create a 10-second cinematic comedy video set in a near-future Indian metropolis at dawn. A chai vendor serves tea to a human office worker and a robot with softly glowing eyes. Steam rises from the goblets while traffic hums softly in the background.
Include short, natural conversation with clear, synchronized audio:
Chai seller (warm, casual tone): “Chai cutting! Chai cutting!”
Administrative worker (slight smile, calm voice): Bhau 2 cutting dena
Robot (soft, neutral voice): Bhai mera nahi. Bohot tel piya hai abhi (I have too much oil)
Add realistic ambient city sounds – distant traffic, footsteps, soft chatter and the clinking of ceramic cups.
exit:
Challenge 2:
Create a 10 second high intensity cinematic video of two massive ancient dragons flying side by side at extreme speed through dark storm clouds at night. Their wings beat violently, tearing through mist and lightning as the camera follows them from a slightly low side angle. Movement should be fast, heavy and strong, with strong wind trails and cloud displacement.
Both dragons speak in flight using very deep, heavy, sonorous voices that sound ancient and terrifying. Their speech must be clearly synchronized with the movement of the mouth and carried over strong winds and thunder.
Dialogue:
Dragon One (Deep, Serious, Controlled Rage):
“The heavens remember our last war… and they will remember the next one.Dragon Two (even deeper, slower, menacing):
“Let them tremble. I’m done waiting.”After the dialogue, both dragons roar loudly in anger, slightly overlapping each other as lightning flashes around them. The roar should be strong, reverberating and emotionally charged, as if preparing for an imminent battle.
exit:
Conclusion
As we can see in both outputs, xAI managed to work on three key areas of improvement. 10 second videos are much more attractive in the overall context of things because they can actually convey a message as a stand alone medium. At the same time, xAI has also managed to introduce 720p output, which means you’ll now get high definition videos in seconds. For anyone who creates content on a regular basis, this is a must-have add-on.
I also really like the sound in the kite video above. The deep voices and the loud roar of the dragons really gave the scene a cinematic edge. However, both videos clearly show that AI-generated videos are far from perfect at this point, and I believe there is still time to point them out and remain confident of a flawless, quality output.
Until then, I’ll consider Imagine 1.0 a step in the right direction.
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