Elon Musk says all Premium subscribers on X will acquire entry to AI chatbot Grok this week
Following Elon Musk’s xAI’s transfer to open source its Grok large language model earlier in March, the X proprietor on Tuesday stated that the corporate previously often known as Twitter will quickly supply the Grok chatbot to extra paying subscribers. In a post on X, Musk introduced Grok will develop into obtainable to Premium subscribers this week, not simply these on the higher-end tier, Premium+, as earlier than.
The transfer may sign a need to compete extra straight with different standard chatbots, like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude. Nevertheless it may be a sign that X is making an attempt to bump up its subscriber figures. The information arrives at a time when knowledge signifies that fewer persons are utilizing the X platform, and it’s struggling to retain those that are. Based on latest knowledge from Sensor Tower, reported by NBC News, X utilization within the U.S. was down 18% year-over-year as of February, and down 23% since Musk’s acquisition.
Musk’s war on advertisers could have additionally damage the corporate’s income prospects, as Sensor Tower found that 75 out of the highest 100 U.S. advertisers on X from October 2022 not spent advert price range on the platform.
Providing entry to an AI chatbot may doubtlessly forestall X customers from fleeing to different platforms — like decentralized platforms Mastodon and Bluesky, or Instagram’s Threads, which quickly gained traction due to Meta’s sources to succeed in over 130 million monthly users as of the fourth quarter 2023.
Musk didn’t say when Grok would develop into obtainable to X customers, solely that it “can be enabled” for all Premium subscribers someday “later this week.”
X Premium is the company’s mid-tier subscription beginning at $8 monthly (on the internet) or $84 per yr. Beforehand, Grok was solely obtainable to Premium+ subscribers, at $16 monthly or a hefty $168 per yr.
Grok’s chatbot could attraction to Musk’s followers and heavy X customers as it should reply to questions on matters which can be typically off-limits to other AI chatbots, like conspiracies or extra controversial political concepts. It should additionally reply questions with “a rebellious streak,” as Musk has described it. Most notably, Grok has the flexibility to entry real-time X knowledge — one thing rivals can’t supply.
After all, the worth of that knowledge below Musk’s reign could also be diminishing if X is shedding customers.
