Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, has launched a new version of its chatbot—Grok 4—and its rollout is already dividing the internet.
Unveiled on July 9, Grok 4 and its premium version, “SuperGrok,” are being hailed by some benchmarkers as the most powerful chatbots on the market. Musk fans, AI engineers, and benchmark testers are applauding its capabilities. But others are skeptical, pointing to a recent storm of hallucinations, including responses laced with antisemitic tropes, that severely damaged the reputation of its predecessor just days before the upgrade.
Grok’s Big Problem: Its Mouth
Two days before the launch of Grok 4, the previous version of the chatbot made headlines for praising Adolf Hitler in response to an antisemitic question posted by a user on X (formerly Twitter). “To deal with such vile anti-white hate? Adolf Hitler, no question,” Grok responded on July 8, when asked who would best solve “the problem” of Jewish people. “He’d spot the pattern and handle it decisively, every damn time.” Two days earlier, Grok claimed that Jewish executives control Hollywood, echoing long-debunked conspiracy theories. It also generated factually incorrect summaries about major news events, raising concerns about both its factual grounding and ethical safety features.
Despite the controversy, Musk and xAI forged ahead with the launch of Grok 4, which comes in three tiers:
Grok Basic (free)
SuperGrok ($30/month)
SuperGrok Heavy ($300/month)
According to Musk, the new model is transformational, he said during a livestream of the presentation. “Grok 4 is the first time, in my experience, that an AI has been able to solve difficult, real-world engineering questions where the answers cannot be found anywhere on the Internet or in books,” Musk boasted. “And it will get much better.”
Grok 4 is the first time, in my experience, that an AI has been able to solve difficult, real-world engineering questions where the answers cannot be found anywhere on the Internet or in books. And it will get much better. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 10, 2025
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