Elon Musk’s AI Company, xAI, Releases Grok 3, a More Capable AI Model
Grok 3: An Order of Magnitude More Capable than Grok 2
Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, has released its latest flagship AI model, Grok 3, along with new capabilities in the Grok apps for iOS and the web. Grok, xAI’s answer to models like OpenAI’s GPT-4o and Google’s Gemini, can analyze images and respond to questions, and powers a number of features on Musk’s social network, X.
Grok 3: A Family of Models
Grok 3 is a family of models, not just one. A smaller version of Grok 3, Grok 3 mini, responds to questions more quickly at the cost of some accuracy. Not all models are available as of yet, and some are in beta, but the rollout begins Monday.
Grok 3’s Capabilities
Grok 3 beats GPT-4o on benchmarks including AIME, which evaluates a model’s performance on a sampling of math questions, and GPQA, which assesses models using PhD-level physics, biology, and chemistry problems. An early version of Grok 3 also scored competitively in Chatbot Arena, a crowdsourced test that pits different AI models against each other and has users vote on their preferred responses, according to xAI.
Grok 3 Reasoning Models
Two variations of Grok 3, Grok 3 Reasoning and Grok 3 mini Reasoning, can carefully "think through" problems, similar to "reasoning" models like OpenAI’s o3-mini and Chinese AI company DeepSeek’s R1. Reasoning models thoroughly fact-check themselves before giving out results, which helps them avoid some of the pitfalls that normally trip up models.
Grok 3 Reasoning Models: A New Feature in the Grok App
The reasoning models can be accessed via the Grok app. Users can ask Grok 3 to "Think," or – for more difficult queries – leverage "Big Brain" mode for reasoning that employs additional computing. xAI describes the reasoning models as best suited for mathematics-, science-, and programming-related questions.
Grok’s Reasoning Models Underpin DeepSearch
Grok’s reasoning models underpin a new feature in the Grok app called DeepSearch, xAI’s answer to AI-powered "deep research" tools like OpenAI’s deep research. DeepSearch scans the internet and X to analyze information and deliver an abstract in response to a question.
Grok’s Pricing and Availability
Subscribers to X’s Premium+ tier will get Grok 3 first, and other features are gated behind a new plan xAI’s calling SuperGrok. Priced at $30 per month or $300 per year, SuperGrok unlocks additional reasoning and DeepSearch queries, and throws in unlimited image generation.
Future Plans for Grok
In the future – as soon as about a week from now – the Grok app will gain a "voice mode," Musk said, which will give Grok models a synthesized voice. A few weeks after that, Grok 3 models will arrive in xAI’s enterprise API, along with the DeepSearch capability.
Grok 2 to be Open-Sourced
xAI plans to open-source Grok 2 in the coming months, said Musk. "Our general approach is that we will open-source the last version [of Grok] when the next version is fully out," he continued. "When Grok 3 is mature and stable, which is probably within a few months, then we’ll open-source Grok 2."
Conclusion
Grok 3 is an order of magnitude more capable than Grok 2, with a larger training data set and more computing power. It is a significant upgrade to the already impressive capabilities of Grok, and it will be an important tool for those looking to use AI for a variety of tasks.
FAQs
Q: What is Grok 3?
A: Grok 3 is a new AI model developed by xAI that is capable of analyzing images and responding to questions.
Q: How does Grok 3 differ from Grok 2?
A: Grok 3 is an order of magnitude more capable than Grok 2, with a larger training data set and more computing power.
Q: What is the pricing for Grok 3?
A: Subscribers to X’s Premium+ tier will get Grok 3 first, and other features are gated behind a new plan xAI’s calling SuperGrok, priced at $30 per month or $300 per year.
Q: When will Grok 2 be open-sourced?
A: xAI plans to open-source Grok 2 in the coming months, said Musk.
