Published August 12, 2026
xAI released a new image model on August 7, 2026 — Grok Imagine Image 2.0 — and it is now live on Secret Chat AI. It has replaced the previous Grok image model in our AI Image Generator, and we have gone one step further: it is now the model the Image Generator opens on, ahead of Nano Banana 2, which held that spot before.
That is not a change we make lightly, because the default is what most people will actually use. This article explains what the new model is, what changed when we switched to it, what you can control, and what stays exactly the same — namely, that you can generate images without an xAI account and without your pictures being tied to your name.
What Is Grok Imagine Image 2.0?
Grok Imagine Image 2.0 is xAI's next-generation image model, shipped on August 7, 2026 as the new "Quality Mode" in the Grok app and on grok.com. It replaces the model that had served that slot since the spring.
The headline claim comes from xAI itself: on the day of the release, the company reported that Image 2.0 ranked second in the world on both the text-to-image and the image-editing arena leaderboards, behind OpenAI's GPT Image 2. Leaderboard positions move around, and this one is xAI's own citation rather than our measurement — but a brand-new model arriving at the top of a crowded field is a good reason to take a serious look at it, which is what we did.
In xAI's own app the release is built around precision editing: a wand tool that changes only the region you point at, segmentation for selecting exact areas, background removal, and generation from several reference pictures at once. Some of those are app features rather than model features, so we want to be precise about what you get here: through the interface Secret Chat uses, you write a prompt and get a picture, and you can hand the model an existing image with an instruction and get a reworked version back. The precision-editing surface from xAI's own app is not something we can pass through.
Why We Made It the Default
Our Image Generator is one tool with several models behind it, and until now it opened on Nano Banana 2 — a fast, dependable everyday generator that is still there and still excellent. Three things moved Grok Imagine 2.0 to the front of the list:
- It is a genuinely new generation. The model is days old, and it arrived at the top of the independent image arenas rather than being announced into them.
- It gives you several attempts at once. Grok Imagine 2.0 can return up to ten variants of one prompt in a single request, which the Nano Banana models cannot do. For image generation, where the second and fifth attempts are often better than the first, that changes how the tool feels far more than any single-image comparison suggests.
- It edits as naturally as it generates. Attach a picture, say what should be different, and you get the reworked version — no separate mode to find.
One reassurance about what "default" means here: if you have ever picked an image model yourself, nothing has moved. The Image Generator remembers your choice, and the default only applies to people who have not made one. Nano Banana 2, Nano Banana Pro, GPT Image 2, Qwen Image 2 Pro and Seedream are all exactly where they were, one click away in the Settings panel.
What You Can Control
Open the Settings panel next to the message box while the Image Generator is selected, and Grok Imagine 2.0 gives you three dials:
- Aspect ratio — square, portrait, widescreen and the rest. Worth setting deliberately: left alone, the model picks a shape for you, and it does not always pick the one you had in mind.
- Resolution — 1K or 2K. It opens on 1K, which is what the model produces when nothing is asked of it, so nothing quietly costs more than it did before. 2K gives you a noticeably larger picture for images you intend to print or use at size. (Some other models in the list go up to 4K; if you have a 4K choice held over from one of those, it steps down to 2K here rather than jumping back to the smallest option.)
- Variants — from one image up to ten in a single go. Each variant is a separate picture and is counted as one, so a batch of ten uses ten times the credits of a single image. Two or three is usually the sweet spot; ten is there for when you are exploring an idea rather than executing one.
The full tour of the panel, model by model, lives on the AI Image Generator page.
How to Use It
- Open the Secret Chat app and choose Image Generator in the model picker.
- Describe the picture you want and send. Grok Imagine 2.0 is already selected unless you have chosen a different image model before.
- To change something, just say so in the next message — "make the background darker", "same shot, but at night". The generator carries the conversation forward, so you do not have to repeat the whole description each time.
- To rework a picture you already have, attach it and write the instruction. To adjust the shape, size or number of variants, open the Settings panel.
A product photograph of a ceramic pour-over coffee set on a pale oak table, morning light from the left, soft shadows, shallow depth of field, muted colors, nothing else in the frame.
Smart Agentic Grok Draws With It Too
The Image Generator is the deliberate route to a picture, but it is not the only one. When you chat with Grok in its default Smart Agentic mode, the model works out for itself what your message needs — a quick answer, a web search, deeper research, or an image — and if it decides an image is the answer, it now draws with Grok Imagine 2.0 as well. You do not have to switch tools or say the word "generate": ask for a diagram or an illustration in the middle of a conversation and one appears.
The same is true of the other agentic models, each of which draws with its own provider's image model — which is part of the point of having several. If you want to know more about how that routing works, our article on Grok 4.6 on Secret Chat covers the Grok side of it.
Generated Privately, Like Everything Else
Switching image models changes nothing about how the requests are made, and that is the part worth restating. Secret Chat is a gateway: your prompt goes to xAI through us, so you need no xAI account and your request is not attached to your identity on their side. You register with an email address alone — no name, no phone number — and the pictures you generate are stored in your own browser, not in an archive on our servers.
Two honest caveats, because we would rather say them than leave them implied. First, what you type is still read by the model provider in order to answer it — a gateway anonymizes who is asking, not what is asked, so the usual judgment about what goes into a prompt still applies. Second, an image you upload for editing is an ordinary file carrying ordinary metadata — GPS coordinates, a capture timestamp, a camera serial number. Every image attachment is stripped of that by default, on every file, with no setting to find; but stripping the envelope is not redacting the letter, and a photograph still shows whatever it shows. Our article on the metadata inside uploaded files covers what is actually in there.
If you want the broader comparison of what each provider retains, the private AI models page lays it out model by model.
Conclusion
Grok Imagine 2.0 is five days old, it arrived near the top of the independent image leaderboards, and it is now what the Secret Chat Image Generator opens on — with up to ten variants per prompt, 1K or 2K output, aspect-ratio control, and one-click editing of any picture you already have. Every other model is still in the list, your own previous choice is untouched, and the whole thing runs without an xAI account.
Open the Image Generator and describe something. That is the entire setup.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is Grok Imagine Image 2.0?
It is xAI's next-generation image model, released on August 7, 2026 as the new "Quality Mode" in the Grok app. On the day of release xAI reported that it ranked second in the world on both the text-to-image and the image-editing arena leaderboards, behind OpenAI's GPT Image 2.
- Is it the default image model on Secret Chat?
Yes. The Image Generator now opens on Grok Imagine 2.0 instead of Nano Banana 2. If you have previously chosen an image model yourself, your choice is remembered and nothing changes for you.
- What happened to the old Grok image model?
It has been replaced. The Grok slot in the Image Generator — and the image step of Smart Agentic Grok — now both run Grok Imagine 2.0, so there is nothing to switch on.
- How many images can it generate at once?
Up to ten variants of one prompt in a single request. Each variant is a separate picture and counts as one, so ten variants use ten times the credits of a single image.
- What resolutions does it support?
1K and 2K. It opens on 1K, the size the model produces when nothing is requested. If you carry a 4K setting over from a model that offers it, it steps down to 2K here rather than resetting to the smallest option.
- Can it edit an image I already have?
Yes. Attach the picture, write what should change, and you get a reworked version back — including pictures the generator itself produced a moment earlier.
- Do I need an xAI or Grok account?
No. Secret Chat acts as a gateway and forwards the request for you, so you need no account with xAI and your request is not tied to your identity on their side. You register with an email address alone.