The entrepreneur behind Tesla and SpaceX recently announced his newest innovation, an AI tool called ‘Grok.’ The tool will hold the ability to glean information from X (formerly Twitter) in real time, which Musk refers to as a “massive advantage over other models” of generative AI.

“It will also answer spicy questions that are rejected by most other AI systems,” said the development team in a blog post. 

The development comes in the wake of Musk’s one-on-one chat with prime minister Rishi Sunak at the end of last week’s summit on AI.

Musk has been involved in AI research and development since its early days, even co-founding OpenAI – the company behind ChatGPT – in 2015. After leaving OpenAI in 2018, Musk once again established a strong foothold in the AI sphere in July when he established xAI alongside researchers from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Tesla, and the University of Toronto, which is the team behind the new Grok chatbot. 

Clout garnered by dominance in other sectors of the tech sphere, such as electric vehicles and space exploration, might just be enough for Musk to stand up to the intense competition in the generative AI space, with major players like Google, Microsoft and Meta jockeying for the top  positions.  

According to recent projections, the global artificial intelligence market size is projected to grow to over £1 trillion by the end of this decade alone, at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of over 36% between now and then. 

At the moment, Grok is still in its early beta phase, after which it will initially be accessible to X Premium+ subscribers. “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,” said the xAI team.

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Its name comes from the 1961 science fiction novel Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein, where it means to thoroughly and intuitively understand something.

Leaning into another science fiction classic, the xAI team said: “Grok is an AI modelled 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 humour.”