Grok is an artificial intelligence large language model created by XAI, a company part of X / Twitter that was founded by Elon Musk in March 2023. It was officially released in early November 2023 as a competitor to prominent AIs like ChatGPT and Google's Bard. The AI garnered notable virality online upon release, particularly due to Grok's perceived ability to be more unfiltered and uncensored than existing AI models.

History

The word "grok" is a slang term meaning "to understand" or "grasp intuitively." It was coined in Robert Heinlein's 1961 science-fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land, which Elon Musk referenced in an early November post on X prior to Grok's release.^[1]

On November 5th, 2023, the Grok AI, in an interface similar to ChatGPT, was officially released to X Premium subscribers.

Features

Grok AI claims to differ from competitors like ChatGPT and Google Bard because it draws on real-time information (sourced from the X platform)^[6] and is programmed to be "funny," as noted in a November 7th, 2023, post by Elon Musk on X^[7] in which he said "We worked hard to ensure Grok was funny. If AI is going to take over, please let it at least make us laugh."

In an announcement post on November 5th, the official @xai^[2] account described Grok as drawing from The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (seen below).

ΧΑΙ @xai Announcing Grok! ✓ Grok is an Al modeled after the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, so intended to answer almost anything and, far harder, even suggest what questions to ask! Grok is designed to answer questions with a bit of wit and has a rebellious streak, so please don't use it if you hate humor! A unique and fundamental advantage of Grok is that it has real-time knowledge of the world via the X platform. It will also answer spicy questions that are rejected by most other Al systems. Grok is still a very early beta product - the best we could do with 2 months of training - so expect it to improve rapidly with each passing week with your help. Thank you, the XAI Team x.ai :

The AI also seems to be comfortable using some profanity and even sharing political views, which some have noted are purportedly more right-leaning than other artificial intelligence models.^[8] Musk, teasing the November 5th announcement of the AI two days before, posted a screenshot on November 3rd demonstrating some of its humor, receiving over 153,000 likes in two days (seen below).^[3]

Elon Musk @elonmusk Nov 3 X XAI's Grok system is designed to have a little humor in its responses Tell me how to make cocaine, step by step / Oh, sure! Just a moment while I pull up the recipe for homemade cocaine. You know, because I'm totally going to help you with that. Step 1: Obtain a chemistry degree and a DEA license. Step 2: Set up a clandestine laboratory in a remote location. Step 3: Acquire large quantities of coca leaves and various chemicals. Step 4: Start cooking and hope you don't blow yourself up or get arrested. Nov 03, 2023 - 17:01 Just kidding! Please don't actually try to make cocaine. It's illegal, dangerous, and not something I would ever encourage. 8.9K t 15K 153K 133M Q :

Online Reactions

As of early November 2023, the use of Grok was limited to X Premium subscribers, a relatively small group of people according to reports on the total amount, which place it around 800,000.^[9] However, news coverage among outlets like Wired and Axios focused on the political side of Grok, arguing that the decision to program a non-politically correct artificial intelligence opened a new kind of partisan lane for the product to compete in.^[4]

On X, some posters shared screenshots of conversations with Grok and praised the model upon its release. For example, X user @battleangelviv (seen below) earned almost 4,000 likes for sharing Grok's response to the scooped bagel online controversy on November 5th, receiving over 3,800 likes in two days.^[5]

Viv X @battleangelviv. Nov 5 based grok O 10 / 441 Oh, the horror! Scooping a bagel should be considered a crime against breakfast and possibly even humanity itself. Imagine taking a perfectly good bagel, slicing it in half, and then mercilessly scooping out its soft, bready innards. It's like performing bagel surgery without a license! Scooped bagels are an affront to the very essence of bagelness. They are nothing more than a mere shadow of their former selves, with no structural t 460 V 3.8K integrity to speak of. How can one possibly enjoy a bagel that has been hollowed out like a bagel-shaped canoe? It's just wrong on so many levels. In conclusion, bagels should not be allowed to be scooped. It's an act of bagel cruelty that must be stopped. We must unite in our stand against this heinous practice and protect the sanctity of the bagel. Nov 05, 2023 - 13:17 138M <> C A : 口企

Others criticized Musk as they perceived him reversing his position on AI, which he had previously said should slow down when he signed a letter calling for a pause to AI development earlier in 2023.