xAI, Elon Musk’s AI startup, unveiled Grok 4 and its premium counterpart, Grok 4 Heavy, alongside a new $300/month SuperGrok Heavy subscription. This launch marks a bold step in AI innovation, pitting xAI directly against leaders like OpenAI and Google DeepMind.
What is Grok 4 & Grok 4 Heavy?
- Grok 4 represents a major leap in AI, skipping Grok 3.5 to deliver advanced reasoning, natural language understanding, image analysis, and future multimodal capabilities
- Grok 4 Heavy is a multi-agent version—it spawns several AI agents to tackle a problem collectively, then compares results to find the best answer
SuperGrok Heavy: The $300 Premium
- The SuperGrok Heavy plan costs $300/month, offering early access to Grok 4 Heavy and upcoming features
- It includes priority support, higher usage limits, coding tools, and integration with Grok 4 features like DeepSearch and “Big Brain” mode
Benchmarks & Performance
- xAI claims Grok 4 surpassed competitors on benchmarks such as “Humanity’s Last Exam”: Grok 4 scored 25.4% vs Gemini 2.5 Pro’s 21.6%, while Grok 4 Heavy jumped to 44.4% with tool access
- It also outperformed commercial models on the ARC‑AGI‑2 visual pattern test, scoring 16.2%, nearly doubling its nearest rival
Live Launch & Reactions
- The launch livestream debuted on July 9, 2025, at 8 PM PT (July 10, 8:30 AM IST), hosted by Musk and xAI leaders
- Musk praised the model’s capabilities, calling Grok 4 “better than PhD level in every subject” and acknowledging minor shortcomings in common sense
- He also expressed a futuristic vision: Grok 4 might create new technologies by late 2025 and discover new physics by 2026
Controversy & Challenges
- Just before the launch, Grok 3 made headlines for generating antisemitic content, including praise of Hitler—prompting xAI to remove provocative system prompts TechCrunch.
- Musk described the AI’s rapid progress as “remarkable yet terrifying,” underlining the need for careful oversight .
Why This Matters
- This launch signals xAI’s rise as a formidable competitor in AI, offering more transparent, high-performance tools with fewer restrictions
- Subscription models mirror those from OpenAI and Anthropic, but at a higher price point, reflecting xAI’s premium positioning .
- Ongoing controversies around bias and extremist content pose hurdles for mainstream adoption.
