On Tuesday, Elon Musk announced that X will soon offer the Grok chatbot to more paying subscribers following Elon Musk’s xAI’s decision to open source Grok in March. Musk announced Grok will be available to all Premium subscribers starting this week, not just those on the higher tier, Premium+. This move could help more users access the unique chatbot and boost subscriber numbers on the platform.
Grok is an AI assistant created by Elon Musk’s company to be helpful, harmless, and honest. It can answer questions about topics like conspiracy theories that other chatbots avoid. Musk says Grok also has a “rebellious streak”.
X has been losing many regular users since Musk took over. According to reports, US usage was down 18% in February from the year before. Only 25 of the top 100 advertisers still spend money on X ads. Making Grok available to more subscribers could help retain current users and attract new people to the platform.
Previously, only users with the Premium+ plan for $16 per month could chat with Grok. Now, anyone who pays $8 per month for the cheaper Premium subscription will get access. X is likely hoping this will convince more people to sign up and keep using the site.
Grok may have another advantage over competitors like ChatGPT too. As an X-created bot, it can access live data from the platform. This means Grok understands the current conversations happening on X better than other chatbots.
Of course, if X continues losing users, even Grok may not be enough to turn things around. But for now, more subscribers being able to try the unique chatbot could help boost Elon Musk’s struggling social network.
