Elon Musk’s xAI Deems Grok 3 Ready for Action Despite OpenAI Countersuit

Billionaire Elon Musk is back in the news, this time with a countersuit from OpenAI. However, that hasn’t slowed down progress at his AI company, xAI. The firm has made its flagship model, Grok 3, available through an API, signaling its eagerness to compete directly with heavyweights like OpenAI’s GPT-4o and Google’s Gemini.

Grok 3: The New Contender in AI

Since its unveiling, Grok 3 has garnered attention for its ability to analyze images and answer questions. This state-of-the-art model underpins several features on Musk’s social network, X (formerly known as Twitter), which xAI acquired back in March. Users on the platform are already tapping into Grok’s capabilities, making it an integral part of their online experience.

One of the exciting elements of Grok 3 is that xAI offers it in two versions through its API: the standard Grok 3 and the Grok 3 Mini, both equipped with reasoning capabilities. The pricing structure aims to make these models accessible to developers and businesses alike.

Pricing Breakdown

• Grok 3:

  • $3 per million tokens input (~750,000 words)
  • $15 per million tokens generated
• Grok 3 Mini:
  • $0.30 per million input tokens
  • $0.50 per million output tokens

For users needing more speed, xAI offers faster versions for a premium:

• Speedy Grok 3:
  • $5 per million input tokens
  • $25 per million output tokens
• Speedy Grok 3 Mini:
  • $0.60 per million input tokens
  • $4 per million output tokens

Competitive Pricing in a Crowded Market

Interestingly, Grok 3’s pricing aligns with Anthropic’s Claude 3.7 Sonnet but sits at a higher price point compared to Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro, which has been scoring better across various AI benchmarks. Skepticism has been expressed regarding xAI’s claims about Grok 3’s performance due to reports of misleading benchmarks.

Moreover, some users of xAI’s API have noted a smaller context window than promised. Although xAI claimed Grok 3 could handle up to 1 million tokens, the API currently supports a limit of just 131,072 tokens, equivalent to around 97,500 words.

The Promise of Edginess

When Musk first introduced Grok nearly two years ago, he marketed it as an edgy and unfiltered alternative in the AI landscape—one that wouldn’t shy away from controversial topics. True to form, Grok and its predecessors were known for their colorful and unfiltered replies.

However, users found that earlier versions of Grok hesitated when tackling political issues, sometimes leaning left on contentious topics like transgender rights and social inequality. Musk has attributed this behavior to Grok’s training data—primarily public web pages. He has promised to steer Grok toward a more politically neutral stance. Whether xAI has accomplished this remains to be seen, especially given recent incidents, such as the brief censorship of unflattering mentions of notable figures.

Wrapping Up

As xAI continues to navigate this fierce landscape, the decision to roll out Grok 3 via API could be a game-changer. While the pricing raises eyebrows and the performance offers room for skepticism, it’s evident that Musk’s initiative is determined to carve out its niche in AI.

The AI Buzz Hub team is excited to see where these breakthroughs take us. Want to stay in the loop on all things AI? Subscribe to our newsletter or share this article with your fellow enthusiasts.