What Is xAI Grok? A Complete Guide to The Chatbot

TL;DR: What Is xAI Grok? A Complete Guide to The Chatbot

Grok is xAI’s cutting-edge AI chatbot, created by Elon Musk to rival tools like ChatGPT and Gemini. Unlike typical assistants, Grok offers real-time web and X (formerly Twitter) integration, bold personality, and advanced reasoning powered by the Grok 3 model. Its unique blend of live data access, multimodal capabilities, and developer-friendly tools make it ideal for both casual users and enterprise-grade deployments. With options like Grok 3 Mini for cost-efficient tasks and open-source flexibility through Grok-1, xAI is reshaping how AI chatbots are used across platforms. Whether you’re researching trends, automating workflows, or building AI products, Grok offers unmatched performance, attitude, and versatility.

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Introduction

As the race for AI dominance intensifies, Elon Musk’s latest innovation - Grok, developed by his startup xAI, has quickly become one of the most talked-about AI chatbots of 2025. Positioned as a bold rival to ChatGPT and Google Gemini, Grok aims to be more than just another assistant. With its witty, rebellious tone, real-time web access, and deep reasoning capabilities, Grok is reshaping how users interact with AI. In this blog, we’ll dive into what Grok is, how it works, what sets it apart, and how you can start using it whether for fun, research, or productivity.

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What Is Grok?

Grok is an advanced AI chatbot developed by xAI, Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup. Grok is built to handle everything from lighthearted chats to complex queries, blending advanced reasoning with live web access to provide smart, timely, and often humorous replies. Since its debut in late 2023, Grok has gained significant traction for its unique blend of utility, personality, and access to live data from X (formerly Twitter), Grok website (Grok.com) and the Grok mobile app.

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Why the Name “Grok”?

The name ‘Grok’ is inspired by Robert Heinlein’s 1961 science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land, where the word means to deeply and intuitively understand something. It means to fully understand something on a deep, almost spiritual level, a nod to xAI’s ambition to create not just smart tools, but AI that truly understands.

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Powered by Grok 3

The latest model, Grok 3, is trained on xAI’s Colossus supercluster - a powerful compute setup using over 200,000 NVIDIA Hopper GPUs. Compared to earlier models, Grok 3 delivers major upgrades in:

• Reasoning & Logic
• Mathematics & Coding
• World Knowledge
• Instruction Following

Grok 3 is also built using reinforcement learning, enabling it to think through complex problems, evaluate multiple outcomes, and offer well-reasoned responses.

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Meet Grok 3 Mini

Alongside the flagship model, xAI introduced Grok 3 Mini; a lightweight version optimized for cost-efficient, logic-based reasoning. It’s designed for tasks where speed and efficiency matter without compromising cognitive depth.

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LLM Benchmark Leaderboard 2025

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Best Price-to-Performance Models

• Gemini 2.5 Flash: Just $0.15/$0.60 per million tokens with 82.8% GPQA. Great for large-scale deployments.
• Grok-3 Mini: At $0.30/$0.50, it mirrors Grok‑3’s performance but at a fraction of the cost.
• DeepSeek-V3: Strong 88.5% MMLU with one of the lowest costs – only $0.27/$1.10.

Keynotes & Insights

• Gemini 2.5 Pro is currently one of the most balanced models, excelling in reasoning and long-context support.
• DeepSeek‑V3 leads in MMLU, making it strong in general knowledge and academic benchmarks—ideal for learning and tutoring agents.
• Grok‑3 Mini offers high GPQA at the lowest cost per token, ideal for startups or budget-conscious deployments.
• Gemini 2.0 Flash‑Lite is the most affordable model but offers limited benchmark performance (51.5% GPQA).

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Key Features of xAI Grok

xAI’s Grok stands apart from typical AI chatbots by blending advanced reasoning, real-time web access, and a rebellious tone. Here's a breakdown of the standout features that make Grok one of the most innovative AI assistants of 2025.

1. Real-Time Web & X Integration

Unlike most LLMs that rely on static data, Grok accesses live updates from X (formerly Twitter) and the open web. This means:

• Always up-to-date with current events and internet trends
• Ideal for real-time sentiment analysis, news summarization, and social media monitoring
• Provides fresher, more relevant answers than ChatGPT or Gemini

2. Rebellious Personality

Grok’s tone is edgy, witty, and sometimes sarcastic, a far cry from the neutral responses of most chatbots.

• Programmed to handle "spicy" or controversial questions
• Offers humorous and bold responses (e.g., “Play Christmas music whenever the hell you want.”)
• Adds personality and relatability to conversations

3. Advanced Reasoning with Grok 3 & Grok 3 Mini

Both Grok 3 and Mini are designed for serious problem-solving:

• Reinforcement learning-based reasoning: Can self-correct, backtrack, and explore multiple solution paths
• Structured outputs: Supports JSON schema for automations
• Functions & Tools Support: Enables integration with external APIs and enterprise workflows
• Reasoning Effort Parameter: Lets users fine-tune how deeply the model thinks (low vs high effort)

4. Deep Domain Expertise

Grok 3 is fine-tuned for enterprise-grade use cases in sectors like:

• Finance: Forecasting, market trend analysis
• Healthcare: Diagnostic support, medical data summarization
• Law: Legal document review and compliance checks
• Science: Research paper synthesis and experiment simulation

5. Extended Context Window

• Grok 3 supports up to 131,000 tokens in a single input
• Suitable for analyzing long documents, full contracts, or multi-step workflows
• Reduces token-cutoff issues that plague smaller models

6. Multimodal Intelligence (Text + Vision)

With the release of Grok-1.5 Vision in April 2024, Grok became multimodal:

• Understands and generates text + images
• Analyzes diagrams, photos, charts
• Can even generate functional code from visual diagrams
• Outperforms other models on RealWorldQA (a visual reasoning benchmark)

7. DeepSearch & Think Mode

• DeepSearch: Summarizes conflicting sources and provides comprehensive answers
• DeeperSearch: Extends the reasoning for nuanced topics
• Think Mode: Lets users trace how Grok arrived at a specific answer ideal for transparency
  

8. Cross-Platform Integration

Grok is not limited to X or its own platform:

• As of May 2025, xAI has partnered with Telegram, bringing Grok to over 1 billion users
• Also available via Azure AI Foundry and GitHub Models for developers
• Can be embedded into enterprise workflows and messaging apps
  

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Version Timeline

How to Use xAI Grok in 2025: Step-by-Step Guide for All Platforms

Whether you are a casual user or a developer, getting started with Grok AI is quick and user-friendly. Here's a complete guide to using xAI Grok across different platforms: Grok.com, the mobile app, X.com, and through developer tools like API and PromptIDE.

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1. Using Grok on the Web (Grok.com)

Best For: Everyday users, researchers, casual chat

Steps to Get Started

1. Visit Grok.com
2. Enter your birth year to confirm your age
3. You will see a welcome message like: "Welcome to Grok, how can I help you today?"
4. Type a query into the input box and press Enter or click the arrow icon

Free Features

• Real-time web data access
• Smart Q&A with witty responses
• Image + text generation via Grok-1.5 Vision

Upgrade Option - SuperGrok Plan

• Unlimited usage
• Access to Grok 3
• Unlock features like DeepSearch, Think Mode, and unlimited image generation
• Shared subscription works on web + mobile

Grok’s subscription pricing

Note: Bundle Info

• SuperGrok is a standalone service for advanced Grok AI capabilities.
• X Premium+ includes limited Grok features; for full toolkit, separate SuperGrok is required

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2. Using the Grok Mobile App

Best For: On-the-go users, creators, mobile-first professionals

How to Start

1. Install the Grok app from the App Store (iOS) or Google Play Store (Android)
2. Launch the app and begin your conversation right away
3. Chat with Grok using either text or image-based prompts

Free Access

• Same features as the web version
• Limited usage tier to try out Grok’s capabilities

SuperGrok Plan Unlocks

• Extended Grok 3 usage
• Full access to DeepSearch and Think
• Unlimited image generation
• Shared account access between mobile and web

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3. Using Grok on X (Twitter)

Best For: Social media users, influencers, news followers

Steps to Use

1. Sign in or create an account on X.com
2. On desktop: Click the ‘Grok’ tab
   On mobile: Tap the Grok icon in the bottom navigation bar
3. Type your query in the chat window to start

Free Plan

• Basic Grok interaction available to all X users

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4. Developer Access: API & PromptIDE

Best For: AI developers, product teams, and tech startups

How to Access Grok's API

1. Visit x.ai and log in with your X (Twitter) account
2. Open PromptIDE, click on your username → API Keys
3. Select “Generate API Key” and set the necessary access permissions.
4. Use the key with Grok’s Python SDK to start integrating with your app

How to Apply for Developer Access

1. After logging into x.ai, go to your profile settings
2. Locate the “Request Developer Access” form
3. Fill out your use case, business purpose, and submit
4. Once approved, you’ll get notified via email with access instructions

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Grok API Pricing - (Based on xAI’s official documentation)

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Grok vs. ChatGPT: Key Differences at a Glance

While both Grok and ChatGPT are powerful AI chatbots, they cater to different user needs and philosophies. Here’s how they compare:

1. Tone and Content Freedom

• Grok takes a bold, uncensored approach designed to tackle edgy or controversial topics with humor and attitude.
• ChatGPT, on the other hand, emphasizes safety and compliance, avoiding sensitive or potentially harmful subjects.

2. Benchmark Performance

• Grok 3 surpasses GPT-4o in mathematical problem-solving, visual reasoning tasks (as measured by RealWorldQA), and coding benchmarks such as AIME and LiveCodeBench.
• ChatGPT maintains higher scores in multidisciplinary reasoning (MMMU) and document comprehension.

3. Access to Real-Time Data

• Grok taps directly into X (formerly Twitter) for live updates, making it ideal for tracking online trends.
• ChatGPT offers web browsing (Pro version) but doesn’t reflect social media discourse in real-time.

4. Open-Source Advantage

• The base model of Grok-1 is open-source under the Apache 2.0 license, giving developers the freedom to customize and deploy it as needed.
• ChatGPT remains fully proprietary, limiting customization.

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When to Choose Grok vs. ChatGPT?

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FAQ

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1. What is xAI & how does it set apart from other AI Chatbots?

xAI Grok is an advanced conversational AI developed by Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI. What sets it apart from others like ChatGPT is its real-time access to the web and X (formerly Twitter), combined with a bold, witty personality and strong reasoning abilities. 

2. What platforms support Grok AI and how do I use it on each?

You can use Grok on Grok.com, its mobile app (iOS/Android), directly through X.com, or via API and PromptIDE if you're a developer.

3. What distinguishes Grok 3 and Grok 3 Mini in terms of features?

Grok 3 offers advanced reasoning, real-time web access, multimodal vision capabilities, and supports complex use cases. Grok 3 Mini offers a lightweight solution ideal for fast, logic-driven interactions.

4. Can Grok access live data and track social media activity?

Yes. Grok stands out for its integration with X (formerly Twitter) and the open web, making it ideal for real-time news tracking, sentiment analysis, and internet trend monitoring.

5. Can I use Grok for enterprise or developer applications?

Absolutely. Grok offers developer tools like APIs and PromptIDE, and it integrates seamlessly with platforms like Azure AI Foundry, GitHub, and enterprise messaging apps.

6. Is Grok open-source or proprietary?

Grok-1 is publicly accessible and governed by the Apache 2.0 open-source terms. This makes it highly customizable for developers, unlike ChatGPT, which is fully proprietary.

7. How does Robylon AI complement tools like Grok for businesses?

Robylon AI helps businesses build no-code, omnichannel support chatbots in under 10 minutes. It is perfect for teams looking for reliable AI automation without technical complexity or high cost.

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