xAI to rollout smarter Grok chatbot on X

xAI, the artificial intelligence startup led by Elon Musk, announced significant updates to its flagship chatbot, Grok, and other AI offerings, signaling the company’s drive to expand its footprint in the AI industry.

On the eve of December 13, the company revealed that it has begun rolling out an upgraded version of its Grok 2 chatbot model to users on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, which Musk also owns. 

According to a report from TechCrunch, the enhanced Grok is “three times faster” than its predecessor and boasts “improved accuracy, instruction-following, and multilingual capabilities.”

X gains a faster Grok model and a new ‘Grok button’ https://t.co/QZCKleQagD

— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) December 14, 2024

Grok leverages the X platform to deliver real-time insights by integrating web search and citations. These features allow the AI model to draw from posts on X and broader internet sources, providing timely and context-rich responses to user queries. 

The chatbot will also reportedly integrate a new “Grok button” on X, which aims to help users explore trending discussions, gain deeper insights into current events, and find relevant context.

Grok AI announces API changes

In addition to the consumer-facing updates, xAI announced major changes to its enterprise API. Two new Grok models have been introduced, featuring improved efficiency and enhanced multilingual capabilities. 

As a result, the company has reduced pricing for API usage, slashing input token costs from $5 to $2 per million tokens and output token costs from $15 to $10 per million tokens. Each token corresponds to approximately four characters of text.

The upgraded API will also soon include xAI’s image generation model, Aurora. Aurora debuted on X this month as part of the Grok chatbot experience. It offers users a largely unfiltered image-generation capability, further expanding xAI’s creative tools.

xAI launched its API back in August, fulfilling a promise to make its generative AI capabilities available to developers. Currently, the API is in a relatively basic stage, featuring a single model, “grok-beta.” 

The initial offering is priced at $5 per million input tokens, equivalent to approximately 750,000 words, and $15 per million output tokens. Tokens represent units of raw data, such as the syllables “fan,” “tas,” and “tic” in the word “fantastic.”

On December 6, X announced that users no longer need to subscribe to X Premium to access Grok. Instead, the platform introduced a freemium model, granting all users ten free chatbot prompts every two hours. 

Asked @Grok to draw a picture of @GaryGensler. Very flattering, I think!

https://t.co/NJnAj1nKIS

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 12, 2024

Freemium X users can also generate up to ten images in the same period, though they are limited to analyzing three images per day unless they subscribe. This move marks a shift from Grok’s earlier availability, which was restricted to X Premium subscribers paying $8 per month or $84 annually.

Integration with X and the broader AI Ecosystem

Grok’s updates outline its developer’s xAI strategy of leveraging the X platform’s social media ecosystem to enhance its AI capabilities. 

The AI model draws its info from real-time data and user-generated content on X to differentiate itself from traditional chatbots that rely solely on pre-trained datasets. This integration positions Grok as a dynamic tool for navigating and understanding live events, trending topics, and nuanced discussions.

Moreover, Aurora complements Grok by enabling users to create visual content. Its upcoming inclusion in the API echoes xAI’s commitment to offering a comprehensive suite of AI tools that cater to diverse user needs, from textual analysis to creative design.

xAI’s recent updates place it in direct competition with established players like OpenAI and Anthropic. The introduction of multilingual capabilities and efficiency gains could help position Grok as a viable alternative to competitors like ChatGPT and Claude. The pricing adjustments for API usage reflect xAI’s commitment to attracting enterprise customers who seek cost-effective solutions.

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