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 submit on X, Musk introduced Grok will develop into obtainable to Premium subscribers this week, not simply these on the higher-end tier, Premium+, as earlier than.
The transfer might sign a need to compete extra instantly with different standard chatbots, like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude. Nevertheless it is also a sign that X is attempting to bump up its subscriber figures. The information arrives at a time when knowledge signifies that fewer persons are utilizing the X platform, and it’s struggling to retain those that are. In line with current knowledge 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 struggle on advertisers might 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 price range on the platform.
Providing entry to an AI chatbot might probably stop X customers from fleeing to different platforms — like decentralized platforms Mastodon and Bluesky, or Instagram’s Threads, which quickly gained traction due to Meta’s assets to succeed in over 130 million month-to-month customers as of the fourth quarter 2023.
Musk didn’t say when Grok would develop into obtainable to X customers, solely that it “can be enabled” for all Premium subscribers someday “later this week.”
X Premium is the firm’s mid-tier subscription beginning at $8 per thirty days (on the internet) or $84 per yr. Beforehand, Grok was solely obtainable to Premium+ subscribers, at $16 per thirty days or a hefty $168 per yr.
Grok’s chatbot might attraction to Musk’s followers and heavy X customers as it’ll reply to questions on matters which can be sometimes off-limits to different AI chatbots, like conspiracies or extra controversial political concepts. It’s going to additionally reply questions with “a rebellious streak,” as Musk has described it. Most notably, Grok has the power to entry real-time X knowledge — one thing rivals can’t provide.
In fact, the worth of that knowledge below Musk’s reign could also be diminishing if X is shedding customers.