Elon Musk’s xAI Unveils its Newest Flagship Model, Grok 3

Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, unveiled its latest flagship model, Grok 3, late Monday, along with new features for the Grok iOS and web apps.

Designed to compete with models like OpenAI’s GPT-4o and Google’s Gemini, Grok can analyze images, answer questions, and power various features on Musk’s social network, X. Grok 3 had been in development for several months and was initially expected to launch in 2024 but missed that target.

This release marks an ambitious step for xAI. The company has been training Grok 3 using a massive data center in Memphis equipped with approximately 200,000 GPUs. In a post on X, Musk stated that Grok 3 was developed with roughly ten times the computing power of its predecessor, Grok 2, and trained on an expanded dataset that includes court filings and more.

“Grok 3 is significantly more capable than Grok 2,” Musk stated during a livestreamed presentation on Monday. He described it as a “maximally truth-seeking AI,” even if its conclusions sometimes challenge political correctness.

The Grok 3 model family includes a smaller variant, Grok 3 Mini, which provides faster responses at the expense of some accuracy. While not all Grok 3 models and features are fully available—some remain in beta—the rollout began on Monday.

Grok 3’s Performance Surpasses Competitors in Key Benchmarks

According to xAI, Grok 3 outperforms GPT-4o on benchmarks such as AIME, which measures math problem-solving abilities, and GPQA, which tests PhD-level knowledge in physics, biology, and chemistry. An early version of Grok 3 also performed well in Chatbot Arena, a crowdsourced competition where users compare AI models and vote on the best responses.

Grok 3’s Reasoning Models Aim for Greater Accuracy

Two models in the Grok 3 family, Grok 3 Reasoning and Grok 3 Mini Reasoning, are designed to methodically process problems, similar to reasoning-focused models like OpenAI’s o3-mini and DeepSeek’s R1. These models attempt to verify their own outputs before responding, reducing common errors that often affect AI systems.

According to xAI, Grok 3 Reasoning outperforms OpenAI’s top o3-mini variant, o3-mini-high, on multiple industry benchmarks, including the recently introduced AIME 2025 mathematics test.

These reasoning models are accessible through the Grok app, where users can prompt Grok 3 to “Think” or activate “Big Brain” mode for complex queries, which utilizes additional computing power. xAI highlights these models as particularly effective for mathematics, science, and programming tasks.

Musk noted that some of the reasoning models’ internal processes are hidden within the Grok app to prevent distillation—a technique AI developers use to extract knowledge from rival models. This follows recent accusations that DeepSeek leveraged distillation to replicate OpenAI’s models.

Grok’s reasoning models also support a new feature called DeepSearch, xAI’s answer to AI-powered research tools like OpenAI’s deep research. DeepSearch scans the web and X, summarizing information into a concise abstract.

Grok 3 Access and SuperGrok Subscription Details

Access to Grok 3 will initially be available to X’s Premium+ subscribers ($50 per month), while additional features will be part of a new plan dubbed SuperGrok. If leaked pricing holds true, SuperGrok will cost $30 per month or $300 per year, granting users expanded reasoning capabilities, more DeepSearch queries, and unlimited image generation.

Musk announced that Grok will soon gain a “voice mode,” arriving as early as next week, with Grok 3 models and DeepSearch launching via xAI’s enterprise API soon after.

xAI also plans to open-source Grok 2 once Grok 3 is stable.

Initially pitched as an unfiltered, politically independent AI, early Grok models engaged with controversial topics but hesitated on political discussions. A study suggested they leaned left on issues like transgender rights and diversity. Musk attributed this to training data and vowed to make Grok more neutral—whether xAI has achieved this remains to be seen.

Read the orignal article on: TechCrunch

Read more: Elon Musk Confirms the Launch of Grok 3 as the Most Advanced AI in the World