Elon Musk Unveils Grok 3, an AI Model He Claims Surpasses ChatGPT and DeepSeek

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Elon Musk’s xAI unveils Grok 3, claiming it surpasses competitors like ChatGPT, DeepSeek, and Google’s Gemini in math, science, and coding benchmarks.
• Grok 3 offers advanced "deep search," online game coding, and a "big brain" mode, now available to X Premium+ subscribers and through the standalone app.
• As AI investments heat up, Musk reveals Grok 3’s 10x power over its predecessor, while teasing a "voice mode" and future open-sourcing of xAI’s models.

xAI launched its enhanced Grok 3 AI model as the Elon Musk-led startup aims to match the advanced reasoning and search features of its competitors' models.

During a livestreamed event on Musk’s X, the startup’s leaders asserted that Grok 3 outperforms Google’s Gemini, OpenAI’s GPT-4, Anthropic’s Claude 3.5, and DeepSeek’s V3 model in math, science, and coding benchmarks. However, its performance compared to other leading reasoning models like OpenAI's o3-mini and DeepSeek's R1 remains unclear. 

The company also highlighted new features, including advanced web searching with "deep search," the ability to code online games, and a "big brain" mode designed to tackle more complex problems.

Grok 3 is now available to users with X's $40 per month "Premium+" subscription, as well as those who subscribe directly through Grok’s standalone app or website.

The xAI announcement arrives amid growing competition in the AI space, with major tech companies ramping up investments in larger, more powerful data centers to support increasingly sophisticated AI models. These tech giants are betting that AI will transform how people work, communicate, and interact online, potentially replacing traditional search engines and coding methods.

American tech companies are now facing new competition from DeepSeek, a Chinese startup whose recently launched R1 model has raised significant concerns about Silicon Valley's AI infrastructure investments, suggesting that advanced models could be trained more efficiently. Musk revealed that Grok 3 was built with 10 times the computing power of 

xAI’s previous model, Grok 2, following the company’s opening of a new data center in Tennessee last year.

The billionaire described Grok 3 as "kind of a beta" for now, noting, "Expect some imperfections at first, but we’ll improve it quickly."

Musk also hinted at a forthcoming "voice mode" for Grok 3 similar to the natural conversation feature on apps like ChatGPT which he said would be launched in the coming days.

In parallel with the reshaping of the federal government into a "special government employee" under President Donald Trump, even this person named Elon Musk is extending his influence over the AI industry. Last week, Musk led a large group of investors buying OpenAI for $97 billion, marking the most recent installment in an ongoing feud between him and OpenAI chief Sam Altman. But, at the moment, the company's board has rejected it. Musk had accused OpenAI of straying away from its original cause which was meant to benefit humanity, mostly because of the shift from a nonprofit organization. He has also pushed OpenAI to open-source more of its technology.

When asked on Monday about open-sourcing xAI’s models, Musk stated that the startup would release the code for its previous Grok 2 model once Grok 3 becomes "mature and stable" in the coming months.