Elon Musk’s xAI company’s new chatbot Grok on Twitter’s web app, Musk confirmed Grok would launch next week for Premium+ subscribers. While Musk’s timelines aren’t always accurate, Twitter’s own code changes revealed Grok integration was progressing.
App researcher Nima Owji shared screenshots showing Grok added to Twitter’s web app at twitter.com/i/grok. One screenshot showed non-Premium+ users invited to upgrade for Grok access. Another displayed a Grok text box for conversing with the AI bot. The features weren’t public yet, but they signaled Grok’s imminent release.
First unveiled on November 4th to testers, Grok is Musk’s rival to ChatGPT and other AI chatbots. As part of Twitter’s platform, it could attract users. xAI says Grok will respond somewhat playfully and has a “rebellious streak.” It may also answer spicier questions avoided by other AIs.
But personality won’t be Grok’s only differentiation. Accessing real-time information from Twitter could make responses more interesting, if not always accurate.
Adding Grok may increase Premium+ subscriptions, helping offset Twitter’s ad revenue plunges over content concerns. Musk revamped Twitter Blue as Premium, with paid verifications and other perks.
Twitter then announced Premium+ at $16 per month to remove ads and offer a Creator Hub for paid posts. Including Grok in this top tier could compel more signups beyond creators.
Grok’s expected debut follows OpenAI chaos, where CEO Sam Altman was ousted but then rehired as CEO with a new board after a brief stint as a Microsoft hire alongside co-founder Greg Brockman.
Though lacking OpenAI’s drama, Grok caught Altman’s attention. He poked fun at Grok’s humor abilities by posting a GPT-3 snippet acting overly goofy as Grok. Musk fired back that humor is “clearly banned at OpenAI” and dubbed GPT-4 “GPT-Snore.”
An early OpenAI co-founder, Musk later split and started xAI, staffing it with AI experts from Google DeepMind, Google Research, OpenAI, Microsoft Research, and Tesla.
Grok has similar foundations as ChatGPT but can leverage real-time Twitter knowledge and also search the web.
