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Elon Musk’s xAI is expected to launch the next-gen Grok language model soon and is planning further advancements to compete with OpenAI.
What is Grok?
In November, Musk announced Grok, his company’s response to ChatGPT, with Grok 1.5 debuting in April. This tool is available to all X users who subscribe to the Premium Plus service for $16 per month (or $22 via the app).
Grok can generate text and engage in conversations with users. Unlike other chatbots, it can access information in real-time through X (formerly Twitter) and is designed to respond to edgy and provocative questions with witty and “rebellious” answers.
Grok-1, the large language model behind Grok, was trained using a custom tech stack based on Kubernetes, the machine learning framework JAX, and the Rust programming language. These technologies helped xAI develop Grok faster and more efficiently than other chatbots.
Like all large language models, Grok-1 was trained on massive amounts of text data from the internet, including Wikipedia articles and scientific papers. However, Grok’s unique feature is its direct access to posts made on X. This gives it “real-time knowledge of the world,” providing a “massive advantage over other models,” as Musk stated.
Grok offers two interaction styles: “Fun Mode” and “Regular Mode.” By default, Grok operates in “Fun Mode,” adopting a more edgy or humorous personality and sometimes producing factually incorrect responses. “Regular Mode” typically delivers more accurate answers, but xAI acknowledges that it can still generate false or contradictory information.
Grok’s sense of humor and “personality” were modeled after “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” by Douglas Adams, one of Musk’s favorite books. “It’s a book on philosophy, disguised as a book on humor,” Musk said in an interview with computer scientist and podcaster Lex Fridman.
With Grok, xAI aims to maintain that ethos while adhering to “the truth of the universe,” Musk explained, and eventually discovering new truths. The goal is to approach something closer to artificial general intelligence, where a machine can learn and think like (or even better than) a human.
What features does Grok 2 have?
Grok 2 introduces several upgrades, including the integration of real-time web search results, keeping the AI updated with the latest information. This means that the AI can respond to queries with the latest available data, enhancing its relevance and usefulness.
In addition, Grok 2 has image generation capabilities, which allows it to produce visual content from user prompts. While it might be premature to discuss in detail, Grok 2 is also expected to show major advancements in handling complex reasoning and problem-solving, as seen by its expected performance on MATH and HumanEval benchmarks. These benchmarks are needed for assessing an AI’s problem-solving capabilities.
When will Grok 2 be released?
In early July, the Tesla billionaire confirmed in a post on X that the large language model Grok 2 will be released in August. Responding to a user’s question about training data, he described the model as a “giant improvement.”
Sadly quite true. It takes a lot of work to purge LLMs from the Internet training data. Grok 2, which comes out in August, will be a giant improvement in this regard.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 1, 2024
He added that the “models training on each other’s data is like a human centipede effect,” and noted that it “takes a lot of work to purge LLMs from the Internet training data,” but claims the next generation of Grok will improve in that area.
Although Musk didn’t elaborate further, he said in March that Grok 2 “should exceed current AI on all metrics.”
Will there be a Grok 3?
Musk revealed that Grok 3 will be released at year-end “after training on 100k H100s” (Nvidia GPUs) and it “should be really something special.”
xAI is training Grok 3 to be on par with or beyond GPT-5, OpenAI’s anticipated next leap in language models.
Is Grok 1 and 2 as good as ChatGPT?
Comparatively, ChatGPT works on a much larger dataset than Grok AI, which means it can generate creative content and handle a broad range of queries far more efficiently. Grok AI, however, provides updated information and intuitive, humorous responses due to its integration with X, unique for its a rebellious tone.
Despite being a late entrant, Grok AI has made some serious progress, as xAI’s research suggests. ChatGPT is great at managing diverse queries, while Grok AI is noted for its witty content.
ChatGPT’s premium version, powered by Microsoft, includes Bing and offers hundreds of plugins like Prompt Perfect, OpenTable, and Wolfram, providing advanced tools not possible with Grok AI.
Will Grok AI ever be free?
Grok currently has no free version and is only available to those who pay $16 a month for a premium X subscription.
In March 2024, xAI released the network architecture and base model weights of Grok-1 under the Apache 2.0 open-source license, allowing developers to use and build on the model commercially. The open-source version is from the pre-training stage, so users will likely need to fine-tune the model themselves before deployment.
How to use Grok
Here’s how to access and use Grok:
- Subscribe to Premium+: Sign up for the Premium+ plan on X, which costs $16 per month. Grok is exclusively available to users with this plan
- Verify account: After subscribing, visit the Grok sign-in page to verify your account and credentials
- Early access availability: If Grok’s early access program isn’t available in your area, submit your email to receive updates
- Access Grok: Once given access, choose between “Regular Mode” for typical responses and “Fun Mode” for more entertaining answers
- Interact with Grok: Use the chatbox function to submit requests and start conversations. Grok also provides basic prompts for inspiration.
Featured image: Canva / Debbie Rowe, Photographer / The Royal Society
