In August, Elon Musk’s xAI promised to make Grok, the corporate’s flagship generative AI mannequin powering numerous options on X, obtainable through an API. Now, that API has arrived — albeit a bit bare-bones in the intervening time.
The xAI API solely has a single mannequin, “grok-beta,” priced at $5 per million enter tokens (~750,000 phrases) or $15 per million output tokens. Tokens are subdivided bits of uncooked information, just like the syllables “fan,” “tas,” and “tic” within the phrase “fantastic.”
It’s unclear which Grok mannequin “grok-beta” is likely to be; Grok 2 is the very newest on X. The documentation for the API refers to Grok 2 and Grok mini, a light-weight and extra inexpensive model of Grok — so it may effectively be a technical difficulty.
Some customers on X additionally reported encountering issues paying for utilization credit.
The xAI API helps perform calling, which connects Grok fashions to exterior instruments akin to databases and engines like google. And, though they don’t seem like reside but, the documentation hints at imaginative and prescient fashions able to analyzing each textual content and pictures.
Musk fashioned xAI final yr. Quickly after, the corporate — which lately moved into OpenAI’s previous workplaces — launched its first Grok mannequin on X to X Premium+ customers, who pay $16 a month.
Grok has what Musk has described as “a rebellious streak” — a willingness to reply “spicy questions that are rejected by most other AI systems.” Advised to be vulgar, for instance, Grok will fortunately oblige, spewing profanities and colourful language you gained’t hear from ChatGPT.
Grok has develop into more and more ingrained within the X expertise. Because of an integration with the open picture generator Flux, Grok can generate photographs on X (with out guardrails, controversially). It summarizes information and trending occasions (usually with errors, thoughts you), and it could improve X’s search capabilities, account bios, submit analytics, and reply capabilities sooner or later.
xAI is sprinting to catch as much as formidable rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic within the generative AI race. In Might, xAI raised $6 billion in a funding spherical led by buyers together with Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, and Constancy.
Musk usually asserts that X’s information offers xAI a considerable leg up in comparison with rivals. This month, X modified its privateness coverage to permit third events, together with xAI, to coach fashions on X posts.
As a part of the pitch for xAI’s $6 billion funding spherical, the startup additionally outlined a imaginative and prescient the place its fashions can be educated on information from Musk’s varied firms, together with Tesla, SpaceX, and The Boring Firm, and its fashions may then enhance expertise throughout these firms.
Tesla shareholders, for one, weren’t on board with that plan. A number of sued Musk over the choice to start out xAI, arguing that Musk has diverted each expertise and sources from Tesla to what’s basically a competing enterprise.
Musk mentioned this summer time that xAI is coaching the subsequent technology of Grok fashions at its Memphis datacenter, which has been accused of worsening smog with unauthorized generators. The corporate hopes to improve the datacenter subsequent yr, however will want approval from the Tennessee Valley Authority so as to take action.
