Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, has released an API for its Grok 3 model, directly challenging OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic.
The launch comes as Musk revealed that Grok 3.5 with “significant upgrades” is coming soon.
Grok 3 API Launch Details
The API gives developers access to two versions:
- Grok 3: The full model with reasoning capabilities
- Grok 3 Mini: A lighter version for less demanding applications
The standard Grok 3 is priced at $3 per million input tokens and $15 per million output tokens, while Grok 3 Mini costs $0.30 per million input tokens and $0.50 per million output tokens.
Faster versions are available at higher rates: Grok 3 (Fast) costs $5 per million input tokens and $25 per million output tokens, while Grok 3 Mini (Fast) is priced at $0.60 per million input tokens and $4 per million output tokens.
This pricing matches Anthropic’s Claude 3.7 Sonnet but exceeds Google’s Gemini 2.5 Pro, which scores higher on various AI benchmarks.
The API currently supports a maximum of 131,072 tokens (about 97,500 words), falling short of the 1 million tokens xAI claimed Grok 3 could handle in February. This discrepancy has prompted criticism from developers on X, as reported by TechCrunch and The Cryptonomist.
Grok 3.5 is On Its Way
During a livestream of roleplaying game ‘Path of Exile’ via Starlink, Musk stated that “Grok 3.5” is coming “soonish” with “significant upgrades.£
He also mentioned Grok 4 is planned for later this year.
The Current State of GenAI Play
We’ve covered Grok 3 and its competitors extensively – here’s how Musk’s flagship GenAI engine stcks up against the rest:
- Performance: Grok 3 has outperformed OpenAI’s GPT-o1 in math, science, and coding tests.
- Input Handling: Unlike GPT-4o and Google Gemini, Grok 3 can’t yet process images or audio, though it can generate images.
- Approach: Grok is designed to be less filtered, more direct, and more willing to use humor than other AI systems.
- Data Access: Through integration with X, Grok can access real-time information other models can’t.
It’s been reported that Grok recently became the most downloaded app on Apple’s App Store, overtaking ChatGPT. The Studio Ghibli art trend reportedly contributed to this surge.
Grok for the Enterprise
Grok has been integrated recently into X, a consumer product, but it has several enterprise business applications too. Grok offers:
- X Data Access: Direct connection to X for trend monitoring
- Task Variety: Email drafting, content creation, data analysis, code debugging
- Image Creation: Generation of visuals via the Aurora model
- Integration Options: Compatibility with existing applications
The limitations include higher costs than some alternatives, a smaller context window than promised, and potential concerns about content filtering.
Future Development
With Grok 3.5 in development and Grok 4 planned for this year, xAI is moving quickly to compete with established AI providers.
Future versions are expected to add image and audio processing capabilities, and with Musk’s seemingly boundless ambition and relentless drive, who’s to say Grok won’t become the dominant GenAI platform of the future?
