Elon Musk says all Premium subscribers on X will gain access to AI chatbot Grok this week

Following Elon Musk’s xAI’s transfer to open source its Grok large language model earlier in March, the X proprietor on Tuesday stated that the corporate previously often called Twitter will quickly supply the Grok chatbot to extra paying subscribers. In a post on X, Musk introduced Grok will grow to be accessible to Premium subscribers this week, not simply these on the higher-end tier, Premium+, as earlier than.

The transfer may sign a need to compete extra straight with different well-liked chatbots, like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude. Nevertheless it is also a sign that X is attempting to bump up its subscriber figures. The information arrives at a time when information signifies that fewer persons are utilizing the X platform, and it’s struggling to retain those that are. In accordance to latest 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 war 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 price range on the platform.

Providing access to an AI chatbot may doubtlessly forestall X customers from fleeing to different platforms — like decentralized platforms Mastodon and Bluesky, or Instagram’s Threads, which quickly gained traction thanks to Meta’s sources to attain over 130 million monthly users as of the fourth quarter 2023.

Musk didn’t say when Grok would grow to be accessible 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 accessible to Premium+ subscribers, at $16 per thirty days or a hefty $168 per yr.

Grok’s chatbot might enchantment to Musk’s followers and heavy X customers because it will reply to questions on subjects which can be typically off-limits to other AI chatbots, like conspiracies or extra controversial political concepts. It will additionally reply questions with “a rebellious streak,” as Musk has described it. Most notably, Grok has the power to access real-time X information — one thing rivals can’t supply.

In fact, the worth of that information underneath Musk’s reign could also be diminishing if X is dropping customers.