This year has seen the emergence of various AI bots, including one from Elon Musk – Grok. The latest creation from Musk's recent AI initiative, called xAI. Taking inspiration from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the AI bot is designed to incorporate some humour, a hint of rebellion, and a willingness to address challenging questions that other AI systems might avoid. 

Musk offered a glimpse into Grok's capabilities on X, formerly known as Twitter, by sharing an example of the AI's response to a request for a step-by-step cocaine recipe.

Grok also benefits from data sourced from X, providing it with a competitive advantage. Musk, on Sunday, shared a side-by-side comparison of Grok responding to a question compared to another AI bot, which he claimed had less up-to-date information.

The prototype is currently in its early beta stage, having undergone only two months of training. It is currently accessible to a limited number of users for testing purposes before the company plans a broader release. Interested users can join a waitlist for an opportunity to use the bot. 

Elon Musk mentioned on X that Grok will eventually become a part of X Premium+, a subscription service priced at $16 per month. The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX seems to position xAI as a contender against companies such as OpenAI, Inflection, and Anthropic.

In initial tests that involved middle school math problems and Python coding tasks, the company reported that Grok outperformed "all other models in its compute class, including ChatGPT-3.5 and Inflection-1." It was only surpassed by AI bots with access to larger datasets.

xAI was launched in July and has assembled a team consisting of former employees from OpenAI, DeepMind, and other leading AI organisations. The company is actively recruiting for several positions.

xAI's stated goal is to develop artificial intelligence aimed at enhancing our shared knowledge of the universe. Elon Musk has previously expressed concerns about AI systems becoming overly "politically correct." xAI's mission, as outlined, is to create AI that caters to individuals from diverse backgrounds and political perspectives.

Grok is viewed as a way to publicly test this AI approach.