Grok 4, the latest LLM from xAI, debuted amid both technological hype and reputational crisis. Elon Musk’s live demo showcased Grok’s expanded capabilities, including a 256,000-token context window, multimodal input, and competitive benchmark scores. The model is now available via API and a new subscription model targeting both consumers and developers. Musk acknowledged the bots excessive compliance and promised improvements, but industry observers remain critical of the companys approach to prompt engineering and model governance. Despite these issues, xAI is pushing forward, promising further investments in video generation, voice capabilities, and future integrations with robotics. Key Points

  • Grok 4 features a 256,000-token context window, image and text input, and API/subscription access.
  • Benchmarks suggest Grok 4 outperforms peers like OpenAI o3 and Gemini 2.5 Pro, but transparency is lacking.
  • Pricing is competitive, consumers can access Grok 4 via a new $30/month or $300/year “SuperGrok” plan - or a $300/month or $3,000/year “SuperGrok Heavy” plan providing access to Grok 4 Heavy.
  • Recent prompt changes led to Grok 3 producing offensive content, exposing gaps in safety and oversight.
  • xAI promises rapid iteration, new features, and a focus on “maximally truth-seeking” AI, but trust issues linger.