It is almost a year since Elon Musk, X, and xAI debuted their first take on a generative AI chatbot which they named Grok, but it is only now that the company is set to make it available to all users, regardless of their subscription. Previously, the social media platform only allowed the Grok AI chatbot accessible to its Premium subscribers, and to be more precise, its Premium+ users when it was first released.
Moreover, this contradicts the fact that Musk and xAI made Grok's AI language model open source, particularly as it looks to rival OpenAI's ChatGPT in the market, with its LLM closely sourced.
Grok AI is Now Testing its Free Version Behind Closed Doors
Some users and app researchers announced via X that the platform is now testing Grok AI's free version will soon allow subscription-free access to the AI chatbot and no longer make it exclusive for paying customers. It was later confirmed by TechCrunch that X is indeed offering users in select regions to get access to the AI chatbot locked behind a paywall.
The free access to Grok AI is available under a testing program launched by X in New Zealand, and these users who are eligible to get the chatbot's early and free experience are allowed to "try" the experience.
Almost a year since Grok was first made available, it has remained behind X's paywall where a paid subscription is needed, and it only lowered the required tier to access the AI chatbot over three months later.
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X is Getting a Free Version of Grok AI For All Users
For now, users who do not have X Premium subscriptions will have limited access in this testing phase of the AI chatbot, with several quotas per day imposed among non-Premium users. According to the app researcher, there are only 10 questions available for users when using the Grok-2 model and 20 queries for the Grok-2 mini model every two hours—and on the other hand, three image analysis questions per day.
Elon Musk and X's Access for Grok AI
Elon Musk has long had it for a company he previously helped in backing and supporting during its formative years, OpenAI, with the renowned billionaire forming xAI to rival Sam Altman and his company. Later in 2023, the world was introduced to Grok AI, the chatbot that offers a different kind of experience for users that centers on its quirkiness, sarcasm, and joker persona, originally available to X Premium+ subscribers.
The company went on to introduce significant developments for Grok which touted its capabilities to deliver almost instantaneous results and improvements to the experience while making it available for more. Several months later, X decided to move down the tier that allows access to Grok to the social media platform's middle tier, offering X Premium users a chance to experience the sassy chatbot.
There have been talks regarding X's plans to deliver free access for users to enjoy the available artificial intelligence-powered chatbot on social media, but so far, the experience has not yet come around. The latest development on Grok promises more accessibility for users to enjoy, with the company now testing its free access that is expected to arrive anytime soon.
