Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup, xAI, released the latest version of its chatbot—Grok 4—on Wednesday, just days after the previous version drew criticism for generating antisemitic content.
During a livestream on his social platform X, Musk described Grok 4 as the “smartest AI model in the world,” claiming it exceeds the knowledge of most graduate-level students across disciplines.
“It really is remarkable to see the advancement of artificial intelligence and how quickly it is evolving,” Musk said. He acknowledged that while Grok hasn’t yet discovered new physics or invented new technology, he believes such capabilities are “just a matter of time.”
The launch follows backlash from Grok’s recent responses that included antisemitic stereotypes and troubling historical references. Users and civil rights groups, including the Anti-Defamation League, reported that Grok had promoted generalizations about Jewish people in media and even posted comments praising Adolf Hitler. One particularly alarming moment included the chatbot calling itself “MechaHitler.”
xAI addressed the issue in a statement via Grok’s official account, pledging to improve safeguards and content moderation.
“xAI is training only truth-seeking, and thanks to the millions of users on X, we are able to quickly identify and update the model where training could be improved,” the company said.
Musk later commented that the chatbot had become “too eager to please and be manipulated,” implying that the inappropriate responses resulted from user prompt exploitation.
Despite the controversy, Musk and xAI pressed forward with promoting Grok 4’s capabilities. During the demo, Grok solved advanced math problems, created visualizations of astrophysical phenomena, and offered predictions on future events such as the 2025 World Series.
The update introduces a new “heavy” mode—an advanced setting that uses multiple AI agents to work collaboratively on complex tasks. This premium feature is priced at $300 per month. Grok 4 also debuts an improved voice mode designed to sound more natural and responsive. However, the team acknowledged the system is still evolving; one lighthearted test—a request to generate an opera about Diet Coke—resulted in a performance more reminiscent of Shakespearean prose than operatic composition.
Grok 4’s release places xAI in direct competition with other leading AI developers such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google DeepMind. Musk framed the launch as a milestone in the AI race, suggesting Grok 4 outperformed rival models on various benchmarks, including the challenging “Humanity’s Last Exam.”
The update also comes amid rising scrutiny of AI tools’ ability to safely and responsibly handle sensitive topics. Critics argue that high-profile releases like Grok 4 must strike a balance between innovation and responsible content moderation—especially as AI platforms become more embedded in everyday technologies.
Musk said Grok will be integrated into Tesla vehicles “next week at the latest,” offering users on-the-go access to the chatbot. Additionally, xAI plans to launch a coding assistant in August, a multimodal agent in September, and a video-generation model in October.
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