Following Elon Musk’s xAI’s transfer to open supply its Grok massive language mannequin earlier in March, the X proprietor on Tuesday mentioned that the corporate previously generally known as Twitter will quickly provide the Grok chatbot to extra paying subscribers. In a put up on X, Musk introduced Grok will turn out to be out there to Premium subscribers this week, not simply these on the higher-end tier, Premium+, as earlier than.
The transfer may sign a want to compete extra straight with different fashionable chatbots, like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude. Nevertheless it is also a sign that X is making an attempt to bump up its subscriber figures. The information arrives at a time when information signifies that fewer individuals are utilizing the X platform, and it’s struggling to retain those that are. In keeping with current information from Sensor Tower, reported by NBC Information, X utilization within the U.S. was down 18% year-over-year as of February, and down 23% since Musk’s acquisition.
Musk’s warfare on advertisers could have additionally harm the corporate’s income prospects, as Sensor Tower discovered that 75 out of the highest 100 U.S. advertisers on X from October 2022 not spent advert funds on the platform.
Providing entry 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 because of Meta’s sources to succeed in over 130 million month-to-month customers as of the fourth quarter 2023.
Musk didn’t say when Grok would turn out to be out there to X customers, solely that it “could be enabled” for all Premium subscribers someday “later this week.”
X Premium is the firm’s mid-tier subscription beginning at $8 per 30 days (on the net) or $84 per yr. Beforehand, Grok was solely out there to Premium+ subscribers, at $16 per 30 days or a hefty $168 per yr.
Grok’s chatbot could enchantment to Musk’s followers and heavy X customers as it can reply to questions on matters which can be sometimes off-limits to different AI chatbots, like conspiracies or extra controversial political concepts. It would additionally reply questions with “a rebellious streak,” as Musk has described it. Most notably, Grok has the flexibility to entry real-time X information — one thing rivals can’t provide.
After all, the worth of that information beneath Musk’s reign could also be diminishing if X is shedding customers.