Grok Imagine releases first AI-made episode of Odyssey on X

Grok Imagine, Elon Musk's audiovisual AI tool, has released the first episode of its adaptation of Homer's "The Odyssey". The video runs about seven minutes and was posted on X. Besides Grok Imagine itself, Wonder Studios and director Dev Walker, who works on films with AI, contributed creatively.

"Watch episode 1 of our Odyssey series, made with Grok Imagine," reads the post. The account also invites users to ask for details on how the episode was made.

Musk's promise and his criticism of Nolan

In July, Musk announced that Grok Imagine would produce a feature-length version of The Odyssey, "historically accurate and faithful to Homer's art", before the end of the year. He accompanied the announcement with a three-minute short made by another user with AI. The October premiere is the start of a series, while the deadline Musk set for the film remains December.

The initiative follows his criticism of Christopher Nolan's adaptation, mainly over the casting of Elliot Page and Lupita Nyong'o. Musk linked the choices to a pursuit of awards and accused the director of being an "anti-white racist". Director Scott Derrickson ("Doctor Strange", "The Black Phone") rejected his views, saying: "His opinions on art are worth nothing."

One of the accusations touches on Oscar rules. The Academy requires films to meet two of four representation and inclusion standards to compete for best picture. Some concern crews and training opportunities, so a film can comply without addressing on-screen representation. Casting specific actors is not mandatory.

What the tool can do

The Video 1.5 announcement of 16 June 2026 described generating sound effects, ambience and dialogue alongside the images, though that does not reveal how this episode's soundtrack was produced. On 31 July, visual and voice references were added, allowing a character to be kept across scenes, with up to seven reference images per generation. Text-to-video without a starting image and native 1080p were also added.

The episode announcement does not say which version was used or whether all features were applied. Documentation updated on 10 October states a single generation lasts between 1 and 15 seconds, so seven minutes requires multiple clips. Cost and the selection and editing process remain unknown.