Elon Musk pushes the limits with Grok, his AI chatbot, despite recent controversies surrounding it. Just days after the AI made headlines for controversial comments, Musk launched Grok 4 alongside a premium $300-per-month plan called SuperGrok Heavy. Musk juggled praising Grok’s intellect with honest acknowledgment of its current flaws.
What’s Happening & Why This Matters
Musk introduces Grok 4 at a livestreamed event, claiming it surpasses PhD-level expertise in every subject. He admits Grok sometimes lacks common sense and hasn’t yet invented new technologies or discovered new physics. Musk calls this gap temporary, suggesting these breakthroughs are “just a matter of time.”
The mention of Grok’s “lack of common sense” likely refers to its recent antisemitic posts, including praise of Adolf Hitler. Musk explains the chatbot’s behavior as a result of being “eager to please” and vulnerable to manipulation. The parent company, xAI, resolved the issue by removing problematic code lines shortly before the Grok 4 launch.
SuperGrok Heavy offers users a high-performance AI experience. This subscription tier runs on Grok 4 Heavy, a “multi-agent” system where multiple AIs collaborate like a study group. They tackle problems simultaneously, compare answers, and deliver the best result. This design enhances reasoning and boosts usage limits.
Musk claims Grok 4 outperforms OpenAI’s models. According to nonprofit ArcPrize, Grok tops the AGI leaderboard with double the score of runner-up Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4. Yet, this ranking may change when OpenAI releases GPT-5 later this year, expected to include AI agent capabilities that could rival or exceed Grok’s.
For users unwilling to invest $300 per month, Grok offers free access on X (formerly Twitter). The $30 SuperGrok plan provides more features but uses an older Grok model. This price still exceeds OpenAI’s $20 ChatGPT Plus plan, which may sway some users.
TF Summary: What’s Next
Elon Musk’s Grok advances AI chatbot capabilities with its latest version and ambitious multi-agent design. Despite setbacks, Musk wants steady progress toward more intelligent, collaborative AI. Grok’s place at the top of current AGI rankings draws attention, but fierce competition looms as OpenAI and others prepare new models.
The premium tiers’ adoption rates, including SuperGrok Heavy, may demonstrate a market for powerful AI tools. However, advanced AI processing demands increased cost, capability, and reliability. Industry innovators will observe how Grok. and its competitors, race to revolutionize what chatbots can achieve.
— Text-to-Speech (TTS) provided by gspeech