X Premium+ subscribers, who have access to the highest subscription tier of X, can utilize Grok. Long-term subscribers will get early access to it through a gradual rollout across the web, iOS, and Android.
Less than a week after it launched in the US, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence (AI) startup xAI is expanding its AI chatbot Grok to 46 other countries, including Australia, Canada, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Singapore.
Users of X Premium+, the highest subscription tier of X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, can access the chatbot. On December 8, X said that the chatbot would be released gradually and that loyal web, iOS, and Android customers would have first access.
“Grok is now gracing the world in even more countries, spreading knowledge and laughter far and wide. The future is looking brighter already!” said X CEO Linda Yaccarino in a post.
In October 2023, X unveiled the Premium+ tier, which costs $16 monthly and gives users access to the algorithmic ‘For You’ and chronological ‘Following’ feeds without ads. Other features include editing tweets, sharing ad revenue, and posting longer text or video.
The monthly cost of the Premium+ tier in India is Rs 2,150 for mobile apps and Rs 1,300 for web access.
Musk claims that Grok, the company’s debut product, poses a severe threat to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. It was first revealed on November 4, 2023, and is driven by the Grok-1 AI model. It is noteworthy to mention that Musk was a co-founder of OpenAI in 2015 when the company was still a non-profit. In 2018, he left the company’s board of directors.
When the chatbot was first released, xAI claimed it could get real-time data from X, guaranteeing its knowledge was current and applicable. Conversely, information is compiled from a variety of public sources, including Wikipedia, books, and web content, by ChatGPT and Google’s Bard.
The firm claimed at the time of introduction in November 2023 that Grok has a “rebellious streak” based on the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and responds to queries with a “bit of wit” as another important feature.
With the US securities regulator, xAI filed last week to raise $1 billion through an equity offering. According to the documents, the company has raised $134.7 million in equity funding thus far.
The launch coincides with Elon Musk, the owner of X, continuing to push for the diversification of the company’s revenue streams, particularly by increasing subscription revenue and decreasing reliance on advertising, which presently accounts for most of X’s earnings but has suffered significantly in the last year.
According to a Bloomberg study, X made $600 million in advertising income in the first three quarters of this year, compared to more than $1 billion in revenue every quarter in 2022. It stated that the overall amount of ad sales would drop to roughly $2.5 billion in 2023.
