Elon Musk’s xAI Unveils Grok 3: 'Smartest AI on Earth' gets 10x more reasoning capabilities?

Grok 3, the newest and most potent AI model unveiled by Elon Musk's xAI on Tuesday, is ten times more capable than Grok 2, its predecessor. 

During a live-streamed event, Musk introduced the advanced AI, showcasing its abilities in reasoning, in-depth research, and handling creative tasks. With Grok 3's unmatched performance in science, coding, and math, it has even outpaced industry giants like Google’s Gemini 2 Pro and OpenAI’s GPT-4.

The launch event highlighted the groundbreaking capabilities of Grok 3. Musk emphasised the model’s “maximally truth-seeking” nature, explaining that its goal is to provide deep, empathetic understanding even if it challenges politically correct views.

Subscription tiers and early access

xAI is rolling out Grok 3 to Premium+ subscribers on X, with users encouraged to update their app to access the new features. For those seeking earlier access and the most advanced capabilities, xAI has introduced a new subscription tier, Super Grok, available on both the Grok app and the newly launched website, grok.com.

Grok 3’s power and DeepSearch tool

Grok 3’s most significant upgrade lies in its computational power, boasting over 10 times the capacity of Grok 2. Built with a massive 2,00,000 GPU cluster housed in Memphis, Tennessee, the supercomputer, Colossus, was developed in under eight months. Musk revealed that Grok 3's pre-training completed in January, with daily improvements being rolled out, ensuring continuous development.

Another highlight is Grok 3’s DeepSearch tool, a smart AI-powered search engine that doesn’t just answer queries but explains its thought process behind each response. This feature is set to change how users interact with AI, offering a more insightful and transparent experience.

xAI vs OpenAI

Musk's criticisms of OpenAI, which he co-founded, were also echoed in the launch event. Musk accused OpenAI of straying from its original mission, leading him to file lawsuits against the company. With xAI now raising around $10 billion in funding, it aims to rival OpenAI, which is seeking $40 billion to further its own ambitions. xAI’s valuation could reach $75 billion, positioning it as a strong contender in the rapidly growing AI industry.

Grok 3’s reasoning capabilities

Building Grok 3 required extensive infrastructure, with xAI constructing its own data center in just four months. The center now operates 200,000 GPUs, ensuring the model’s smooth functioning. In a demonstration, Grok 3 showcased its reasoning abilities by calculating and plotting trajectories for Mars exploration and even designing a new video game concept.