Elon Musk has confirmed that Grok 3, the newest version of his tech company xAI's generative artificial intelligence chatbot, will be released in about six months.
Mr Musk also said on his platform X that xAI has open‑sourced its current AI chatbot Grok 2.5.
Open‑sourcing makes both the model’s code and its weights freely available to developers and researchers worldwide. This move allows external parties to study its architecture, test its safety, and build new applications.
Supporters argue it promotes transparency and levels the playing field, particularly for smaller companies and academic institutions.
Critics, however, caution that making advanced AI systems easily accessible could increase the risks of misuse.
Grok 3
Unveiled in February 2025, Grok 3 was described by Mr Musk as an “order of magnitude more capable than Grok 2” in a live-stream on X. He also claimed it would be the "smartest AI on Earth".
During the event, xAI showcased Grok 3 solving a physics problem and creating a game that combined elements of Bejeweled and Tetris.
The API, which includes a reasoning component and DeepSearch capabilities, is set to launch in the coming weeks.
Grok 3 is powered by xAI’s Colossus supercomputer, delivering about 10 times the computing power of its predecessor and outperforming leading systems in reasoning across maths, science, and code‑generation tasks.
What’s next in the AI race?
By committing to an open-source timeline for Grok 3, xAI is positioning itself as a challenger to industry leaders such as OpenAI, Google and Anthropic.
The strategy seeks to make powerful AI tools more transparent, with the idea that it will be attractive to developers, start-ups and research institutions.
In a separate post on X, Mr Musk said xAI would “soon be far beyond any company besides Google, then significantly exceed Google”, while noting that “companies in China will be the toughest” competitors.
Ultimately, the impact of this move will hinge on user adoption and regulatory responses.
As open models gain traction, governments and watchdogs may intensify scrutiny to manage the balance between innovation and safety.
xAI was founded by Mr Musk in 2023 with the mission of “understanding the true nature of the universe".
Its flagship product, Grok, began as a chatbot integrated with X and has evolved through multiple versions. The company last month also unveiled the Grok 4, claiming it to be the "most intelligent model in the world". It includes real-time search integration, and is available to Premium+ subscribers, as well as through the xAI API.
