Following Elon Musk’s xAI’s transfer to open supply its Grok giant language mannequin earlier in March, the X proprietor on Tuesday stated that the corporate previously generally known as Twitter will quickly supply the Grok chatbot to extra paying subscribers. In a post on X, Musk introduced Grok will turn into obtainable to Premium subscribers this week, not simply these on the higher-end tier, Premium+, as earlier than.
The transfer may sign a want to compete extra instantly with different widespread chatbots, like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude. Nevertheless it may be a sign that X is attempting to bump up its subscriber figures. The information arrives at a time when information signifies that fewer individuals are utilizing the X platform, and it’s struggling to retain those that are. In line with current information 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 warfare on advertisers might have additionally harm 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 funds on the platform.
Providing entry to an AI chatbot may probably stop X customers from fleeing to different platforms — like decentralized platforms Mastodon and Bluesky, or Instagram’s Threads, which quickly gained traction because of Meta’s sources to achieve over 130 million month-to-month customers as of the fourth quarter 2023.
Musk didn’t say when Grok would turn into obtainable to X customers, solely that it “could be enabled” for all Premium subscribers someday “later this week.”
X Premium is the company’s mid-tier subscription beginning at $8 per thirty days (on the net) or $84 per yr. Beforehand, Grok was solely obtainable to Premium+ subscribers, at $16 per thirty days or a hefty $168 per yr.
Grok’s chatbot might attraction to Musk’s followers and heavy X customers as it should reply to questions on subjects which can be sometimes off-limits to different AI chatbots, like conspiracies or extra controversial political concepts. It’ll additionally reply questions with “a rebellious streak,” as Musk has described it. Most notably, Grok has the flexibility to entry real-time X information — one thing rivals can’t supply.
After all, the worth of that information beneath Musk’s reign could also be diminishing if X is shedding customers.