The most anticipated news in the tech world today is undoubtedly xAI's launch of the Grok-3 large language model. Reportedly, this AI model possesses human-like reasoning abilities, primarily due to its "Chain-of-Thought" (CoT) technique. This allows it to break down complex tasks layer by layer, like peeling an onion, for deep analysis, somewhat reminiscent of OpenAI's o3 and Deepseek-r1.
Speaking of Grok-3, its creator, Elon Musk, naturally comes to mind. The tech mogul has boldly declared Grok-3 to be "the smartest AI on Earth," adding that it's "smart to a somewhat terrifying degree." He believes Grok-3's reasoning capabilities are incredibly powerful, stating that among all AI models tested so far, "none can rival it."
The Grok series was launched by Musk in 2023 with a clear goal: to challenge OpenAI's ChatGPT. Grok-1 was released in November 2023, followed by Grok-2 in August 2024. Grok-3, the subject of this announcement, is the latest upgraded version in the series.
When it comes to OpenAI, it's undeniably a leader in today's AI landscape. There's also an intriguing history between OpenAI and Elon Musk, a connection that played a role in Grok's creation.
OpenAI was initially founded in San Francisco in 2015 by seven individuals, including Sam Altman and Elon Musk, who collectively contributed $1 billion. At that time, OpenAI and Musk were in a "honeymoon phase." Reportedly, Sam wanted to attract top talent with high salaries, and Musk didn't hesitate to lend his support! Back then, joining OpenAI meant an annual salary of $300,000, plus SpaceX stock options – a highly generous compensation package.
OpenAI's initial vision was to be a non-profit organization, open-sourcing its technology and developing AI beneficial to humanity. However, OpenAI gradually transitioned into a closed-source, for-profit company. This greatly displeased Musk, who felt OpenAI had lost its way and become a "fiefdom" of large corporations like Microsoft. Later, Musk was excluded from OpenAI's board of directors. Although he expressed willingness to continue investing, the rift had formed, which was one of the reasons he later founded Grok.
In March 2019, OpenAI officially announced its transition from a "non-profit" to a "capped-profit" entity, with profits capped at 100 times the investment amount. Musk has publicly criticized OpenAI, arguing that they forgot their original mission, focusing solely on making money while neglecting the potential risks posed by AI. He even sarcastically suggested that OpenAI rename itself "CloseAI."
On February 10th this year, Musk reportedly offered to acquire OpenAI for $97.4 billion, but his offer was rejected. Sam Altman retaliated by reportedly stating he would acquire Musk's Twitter. If Musk had indeed acquired OpenAI, it's widely speculated he would have immediately open-sourced it, which would undoubtedly be a boon for the entire AI community.
In conclusion, the launch of Grok-3 is a significant event in the AI landscape. The "love-hate relationship" or ongoing saga between Elon Musk and OpenAI also adds considerable fodder for discussion within the AI community. As for just how powerful Grok-3 truly is, you can try it out for yourself!
Use Grok for Free on the Web
Official Website: https://grok.com
Currently, the web chat feature is freely accessible, requiring no login or payment to use. However, due to some well-known reasons, users in mainland China may require a VPN to access it.
Access Grok via API
The API is compatible with the OpenAI SDK; simply replace the API URL with https://api.x.ai/v1.
Then, create your API KEY on this page: https://console.x.ai.
Available models include: grok-2-latest, grok-2-vision-latest, and grok-3.