Elon Musk’s unconventional AI chatbot Grok has extended its reach to India and 46 other countries after initially rolling out in the U.S. Built by Musk’s AI firm Anthropic, Grok offers a dose of humor and attitude lacking in mainstream chatbots.
Indian users can access the software via Twitter’s $8 Premium Blue subscription. Grok arrives just as Musk pushes new monetization features on the platform in a bid to boost revenue.
Touted to respond with “wit and wisdom”, Grok differentiates itself from rivals through real-time inputs from Twitter data. Its underlying 33 billion parameter AI model Grok-0 also claims superiority over OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 which powers ChatGPT.
In early interactions, the chatbot has lived up to its billing of having a rebellious streak. When prompted to roast its own creator Musk, Grok labeled the tech billionaire a “delicate flower” and critiqued recent changes at Twitter under his leadership.
Such antics aside, Musk believes Grok represents the next phase of conversational AI. By tapping Twitter’s treasure trove of data, Anthropic aims to equip Grok with more grounded, up-to-date responses compared to most chatbots trained on old internet archives.
India is among the first expansion markets for Grok following its limited U.S. launch. Interest locally is expected to be high given Musk and Twitter’s huge follower base. And pricing of ₹1,300 monthly or ₹13,600 annually seems targeted at premium users willing to pay for exclusive access.
Whether Grok’s unique persona and perspective ultimately sway users into buying Twitter Blue remains to be seen. But the product’s evolution will be watched closely as Musk continues seeking silver bullets to boost the platform’s fortunes in India and beyond.
