Pay To Play? Elon Musk Reveals The Secret To Access Grok AI Chatbot Early – News18

Elon Musk’s xAI launched its own generative AI chatbot, named Grok, just last week. This chatbot is based on Grok-1—xAI’s own large language model. Reportedly, it differs from the multitude of other chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google Bard because it has a “humorous” side and is said to answer “spicy” questions that other chatbots tend to avoid. However, unlike those chatbots, Grok isn’t available to everyone; it’s essentially behind the X Premium subscription paywall for now.

Even for X Premium users, there’s a waitlist for access. But, Elon Musk has confirmed that xAI’s Grok will be prioritized for users who have been X Premium+ members for a longer duration. In simple terms, if you have been subscribed to X Premium+, previously known as Twitter Blue for an extended period—the likelihood of accessing Grok is higher than for someone who recently subscribed to the service.

“We are prioritizing access to Grok according to the length of time someone has had an X Premium+ account,” Elon Musk posted on X.

Notably, this isn’t the first time a feature or service under Musk’s ownership has been put behind a paywall. Features like posting long-form content—including posts and videos—and editing posts have all been placed behind the X Basic paywall.

It remains to be seen whether Grok will eventually be available to everyone, or if Elon Musk’s xAI will continue to offer it as part of the X Premium+ service.

In India, the X Premium+ service costs Rs 1,300 per month or Rs 13,600 annually. This is the cost you must bear to access the Grok chatbot. Comparatively, this is an outright paid experience compared to other chatbots like ChatGPT and Google Bard, as those services are free. While ChatGPT does offer a Plus tier, the core functionality remains free for now.