xAI plans standalone app for Grok, but costs could hinder adoption

The news: xAI is planning a standalone app for its Grok chatbot.

• The app could roll out as early as this month and, similar to the chatbot’s web interface, may require a paid subscription.
• xAI told investors that it raised $5 billion in its most-recent funding round, per The Wall Street Journal, valuing it at over $50 billion.

Cost constraints: Access to Grok is currently limited to X users with Premium subscriptions. If the chatbot continues to require a subscription for full features, an independent app might not boost adoption.

• It costs between $8 and $16 per month to access Grok, while ChatGPT and Claude offer free versions of their chatbots.
• Google’s Gemini and Apple Intelligence are built into Android and iOS smartphones with no additional fees or extraneous apps.
• Only 6% of US adults are willing to pay for AI features on their phones, per CNET.

X is testing a limited free version of Grok in select regions that allows 10 queries every two hours and two image generations per day.

Clearer division: X faces heightened competition for users from Meta’s Threads and Bluesky, driven in part by unpopular user policies, which could dampen interest in Grok.

Giving Grok a platform outside of X could entice users without X accounts who want to try out the AI chatbot. However, the chatbot’s ability to generate vulgar or hateful responses could dissuade enterprises from using Grok.

Elon Musk has added several profitability-focused policies to X since purchasing the platform, then known at Twitter, which makes it likely that Grok, even if available to non-Premium users, will require a subscription.

Challenges ahead: Conflict with app stores could present another hurdle for a Grok app.

• The chatbot has limited guardrails against copyright infringement and harmful outputs, and misinformation is a frequently reported issue.
• Google’s and Apple’s app stores both have specific policies against apps that violate copyright laws, making it possible that Grok could get booted off either service if its outputs don’t meet their standards.

Our take: An independent app could offer new user growth opportunities for Grok, but brand safety issues could hinder adoption.

While keeping Grok housed on X’s platform boosts the latter as a killer app, xAI’s growing capital might push Musk to start divesting his interests.

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