In August, Elon Musk's xAI promised to make Grok, the corporate's flagship generative AI model that powers a spread of features on X, available via an API. Well, this API has arrived – although a bit tenuous for the time being.
The xAI API There is simply a single model, “grok-beta,” which costs $5 per million input tokens (~750,000 words) or $15 per million output tokens. Tokens are divided bits of raw data, just like the syllables “fan,” “tas,” and “tic” within the word “unbelievable.”
It is unclear which Grok model could be “grok-beta”; Grok 2 is the very latest version of
Some users on X too reported Problems occur when paying for usage credit.
The xAI API supports function calls that connect Grok models to external tools reminiscent of databases and serps. And while they don't seem like live yet, documentation hints at vision models that may analyze each text and pictures.
Musk founded xAI last 12 months. Shortly after, the corporate, which recently moved into OpenAI's old offices, released its first Grok model for X-to-X Premium+ users who pay $16 monthly.
Grok has what Musk has described as a “rebellious streak” – a willingness to “answer sharp questions which might be rejected by most other AI systems.” Grok, for instance, is known as vulgar and happily obliges by spewing obscenities and colourful expressions not heard on ChatGPT.
Grok is increasingly rooted within the X experience. Thanks to an integration with the open image generator Flux, Grok can generate images on X (without guardrails, controversial). It summarizes news and trending events (often with Mistakemind you), and it could improve X's search features, account bios, post analytics, and reply features in the longer term.
xAI is sprinting to meet up with formidable competitors like OpenAI and Anthropic within the generative AI race. In May, xAI raised $6 billion in a funding round led by investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital and Fidelity.
Musk often claims that X's data gives xAI a major lead over the competition. This month, X modified its privacy policy to permit third parties, including xAI, to coach models for X contributions.
As a part of its pitch for xAI's $6 billion funding round, the startup also outlined a vision by which its models could be trained on data from Musk's various firms, including Tesla, SpaceX and The Boring Company, and its models would then be trained on the technology of those firms could improve firms.
On the one hand, Tesla shareholders didn’t agree with this plan. Several sued Musk over the choice to launch xAI, arguing that Musk did so each talent and resources diverted from Tesla to an essentially competing company.
Musk said this summer that xAI is training the subsequent generation of Grok models at its data center in Memphis accused that the smog is getting worse because of unauthorized turbines. The company hopes to upgrade the info center next 12 months, but will need approval from the Tennessee Valley Authority to accomplish that.
