Elon Musk Expands Access to X’s AI Chatbot Grok for All Premium Users
After announcing the open-source release of Grok, Elon Musk’s X aims to boost its popularity by making the AI chatbot accessible to more paying subscribers.
Recent developments: Earlier this month, Elon Musk’s Neuralink revealed the open-source launch of its Grok large language model. Now, the former Twitter owner plans to provide the Grok chatbot to additional paying subscribers on its platform.
Announcement: On X, Musk declared that Grok would become available to Premium subscribers within the week, rather than being limited to the higher-end Premium+ tier. This decision might indicate a competitive strategy against well-known chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude. Alternatively, it could reflect an effort to increase the number of subscribers.
Contextual challenges: As X faces declining usage rates and struggles to maintain its user base, offering access to an AI chatbot could help deter users from migrating to alternative platforms, including decentralized options like Mastodon and Bluesky, or Instagram’s Threads.
Data insights: According to Sensor Tower, X usage in the US decreased by 18% annually as of February, while Musk’s takeover saw a 23% drop in users. Furthermore, 75 of the top 100 US advertisers on X ceased their advertising expenditure following Musk’s anti-advertiser stance.
Pricing and availability: Currently, X Premium serves as the middle-tier subscription priced at $8 per month online or $84 annually. Prior to this update, Grok was exclusive to Premium+ subscribers, costing $16 per month or $168 yearly.
Unique features: Grok’s chatbot caters to Musk’s follower base and frequent X users due to its capacity to address queries concerning taboo subjects, such as conspiracy theories or contentious political views. Additionally, it offers responses with “rebellious” tendencies. Notably, Grok possesses the unique capability to access live X data – an advantage rival chatbots lack.
Conclusion: While expanding accessibility to Grok, X seeks to regain lost ground amidst dwindling user numbers. However, the worth of real-time X data under Musk’s leadership may depreciate should the platform continue to lose users.
