• by Colin Kirkland , October 21, 2024

X owner Elon Musk has announced an API for xAI his generative artificial intelligence company known for its Grok AI model, which is currently integrated into various features on X. 

Upon launch, the xAI API only has one model, called “grok-beta,” priced at $5 per million input tokens or $15 per million output tokens. Tokens, in this case, are subdivided pieces of raw data. 

It is unclear yet which Grok models are available in the API -- Grok-2 or Grok-2 mini, both of which xAI announced in August, described them as “more intuitive, steerable, and versatile” compared to their predecessor. 

Both chatbot models include in-app image generation for premium users, which quickly raised concern among users and regulators due to the proliferation of Grok-generated images depicting political figures taking part in illicit activities, including George W. Bush fingering a pile of cocaine in the oval office, and Vice President Kamala Harris pregnant with former president Donald Trump’s baby. 

Earlier this year, xAI raised $6 billion in new funding led by investors like Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, and Fidelity, ultimately valuing Grok at $24 billion. 

The xAI API supports function calling, or Grok’s connection to external tools such as databases and search engines. 

The OpenAI competitor, which has gained a reputation for saying things that are more vulgar and “spicy” than ChatGPT output, powers various features on X, like summarizing news and trending events and generate images directly on the app -- although both use cases have faced scrutiny due to their tendency to spread misinformation. 

In the future, X plans on using Grok to enhance search capabilities, account bios, post analytics, and reply functions in the social media app. 

Beyond X, Musk has outlined a plan to train Grok models on his other companies like Tesla, SpaceX, and The Boring Company.