Grok 3 is an AI model developed by xAI, an artificial intelligence startup founded by Elon Musk. Released in February 2025, Grok 3 outperforms some of the industry’s best foundation models across math, science and coding benchmarks, according to the company and some independent evaluations, matching (or even exceeding) their advanced reasoning and search capabilities as well. The model now powers xAI’s Grok chatbot, putting it in direct competition with the likes of ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and DeepSeek.
Grok 3 Definition
Grok 3 is a multimodal AI model developed by Elon Musk’s xAI startup to power its Grok chatbot. With advanced reasoning and search capabilities, the model is designed to solve complex problems, retrieve information in real-time and provide contextually relevant responses.
The launch of Grok 3 comes at a fiercely competitive moment in the AI industry. Tech giants are racing to build larger data centers with more advanced hardware to push their models even further, driven by the belief that artificial intelligence — and eventually artificial general intelligence and superintelligence — will fundamentally transform the way we live, work, create and communicate. What sets xAI apart is its speed: Musk revealed in a livestream demo alongside three xAI engineers that Grok 3 was trained on 200,000 Nvidia H100 GPUs (10 times the computing power of its predecessor, Grok-2, which launched just six months earlier). The team also said it took only 92 days to scale its Memphis-based supercomputer, Colossus, to support the new model’s training.
Grok 3 is being rolled out gradually, starting with Premium+ subscribers on Musk’s social media platform X and Grok.com. Eventually, xAI will be launching a new SuperGrok subscription tier, which will include access to the latest AI model’s more advanced features once it is rolled out.
What Is Grok 3?
Grok 3 is a multimodal model that has advanced text generation, image creation and reasoning capabilities — with “reasoning” being the ability to break down problems step by step and refine outputs before delivering a final answer. The model can work in three different modes: Think, Big Brain and DeepSearch.
Think
The Think setting activates Grok 3’s reasoning process, allowing it to break down problems into several smaller steps, or “thoughts,” before generating a final answer. Most of these thoughts are visible to users, but Musk said some remain hidden to prevent distillation — a technique AI developers use to extract knowledge from other models to train their own. Think relies on a less computationally intensive “mini” version of Grok 3, and can be used to solve simple queries about topics like mathematics, science and programming questions.
Big Brain
The Big Brain setting is similar to Think in that it activates Grok 3’s reasoning capabilities, but it uses the full-sized version of the model, enabling it to tackle more complex queries. Although Grok 3 takes longer to process inputs when Big Brain is enabled, it is designed to provide more accurate, insightful and detailed responses. This mode is especially useful in scientific research, multi-layered AI tasks and highly complex problem-solving scenarios, where standard inference may not be enough.
DeepSearch
DeepSearch allows Grok 3 to browse the internet, verify sources and synthesize real-time information before generating a final answer. Unlike standard language models, which rely exclusively on a corpus of data learned during the training process, Grok 3 can access fresh information when DeepSearch is activated, making it ideal for tasks like news gathering, market tracking and fact-checking.
When DeepSearch is enabled, Grok 3 displays a new progress bar on the left, while showing its thought process in a panel on the right. This right panel also provides citations that link directly to the websites it pulled from to generate its responses.
XAI is positioning DeepSearch as both an AI-powered search engine and a precursor to its version of AI agents, where models will not only be able to think like humans, but complete complex tasks like them, too.
What Can Grok 3 Do?
Grok 3 can do much of what other comparable generative AI models can do: answer questions, brainstorm ideas, provide advice — especially when it comes to subjects like math, science and coding. But it stands out from other xAI models with several unique capabilities, including:
- Advanced reasoning: Using its Think and Big Brain modes, Grok 3 can deconstruct complex questions into manageable steps, checking its facts along the way to ensure its response is correct before providing it. So, instead of jumping straight to an answer like a typical language model, it analyzes the prompt, evaluates different possible responses and refines the final output for greater accuracy and coherence.
- Search: Similar to Google and OpenAI’s “deep research” tools, Grok 3’s DeepSearch mode allows it to scan the internet for real-time information, providing more comprehensive, contextually relevant responses. It can also generate summaries of the information it has found on the web for research-related tasks.
- Game development: During the demo, Grok 3 was used to create a game blending Tetris and Bejeweled. In another example posted on X, the model appeared to generate a basic version of the game Bubble Trouble, complete with physics, collisions and a basic two-dimensional interface. Musk also announced in the livestream that xAI is launching its own gaming studio to build “AI games.”
- Voice mode: Musk mentioned in the livestream that Grok 3 will soon include a “voice mode,” where users will be able to converse with the Grok chatbot through spoken commands and receive AI-generated vocal responses — similar to competitors like ChatGPT.
How Does Grok 3 Compare to Other Models?
XAI claims Grok 3 beats Google’s Gemini 2, OpenAI’s GPT-4o, Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet and DeepSeek’s V3 models on math (AIME’24), science (GPQA) and coding (LCB Oct-Feb) tests. The company also says it demonstrates stronger reasoning skills than OpenAI’s o1, Google’s Gemini 2 Flash Thinking and DeepSeek’s R1 models.
Indeed, an early version of Grok 3 (using the codename “chocolate”) is topping the charts in Chatbot Arena, a crowdsourced test that pits different models against each other. The model is also ranked highly by the Artificial Analysis Quality Index, an independent AI evaluation system, though it trails behind DeepSeek-R1, as well as OpenAI’s o3-mini and o1 models. Its reasoning capabilities, however, outranked everyone except o3-mini.
All of this is to say that Grok 3 performs “right at expectations,” to quote Wharton University AI professor Ethan Mollick, who reviewed the model’s performance on X. It is a “very good model that is now at the frontier,” he said in another post. “But not something that would make you switch from another AI yet.”
Grok 3 Limitations
Like any other AI model, Grok 3 can produce false or misleading outputs, and may reflect the biases present in its training data. The model also struggles with generating SVG (scalable vector graphics) images, as noted by Andrej Karpathy, a founding member of OpenAI and former director of AI at Tesla who got early access to Grok 3.
OpenAI vs. xAI: An Ongoing Feud
The Grok chatbot is essentially Musk’s “anti-woke” answer to ChatGPT, whose maker — OpenAI — he co-founded and then left in 2018 after a reported power struggle with now-CEO Sam Altman. Since then, Musk has repeatedly sued OpenAI, accusing it of abandoning its original mission to benefit humanity in favor of profits. And he has openly criticized ChatGPT of being too politically left and potentially dangerous.
The rivalry between the two tech founders reignited in January 2025 after Altman announced OpenAI’s partnership with President Donald Trump on the Stargate Project, a venture that plans to invest $500 billion in America’s AI infrastructure over the next four years. Musk — a prominent Trump ally and head of his controversial Department of Government Efficiency — was notably absent from the White House press conference unveiling Stargate. He later took to X to criticize both the ambitious project and OpenAI’s involvement in it, sparking a series of snide exchanges between Musk and Altman on the platform.
Then, just a few days before releasing Grok 3, a group of investors led by Musk made an unsolicited $97.4 billion bid to buy a controlling share of OpenAI — to which Altman said “no thank you” and offered to buy Musk’s social media company X for $9.74 billion.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Grok 3 available?
Grok 3 is now available through a Premium+ subscription on X and Grok.com, which includes higher usage limits, access to DeepSearch and the ability to enable Think and Big Brain reasoning modes. The model will also be available with a SuperGrok subscription, which promises access to even more advanced features and unlimited image generation once it is rolled out.
Is Grok 3 free?
On February 19, 2025, Musk announced on X that Grok 3 would be available for free for a “short time,” but it is unclear how long that offer will last. Otherwise, users can access the model with a Premium+ subscription, which now costs $22 a month (up from $16). XAI also unveiled plans for a new subscription tier, SuperGrok, which is meant for users who want the earliest access to the most advanced capabilities (similar to ChatGPT Pro). SuperGrok’s price has not yet been made public, but it is rumored to be $30 a month or $300 a year.
Is Grok 3 open source?
No — Grok 3 is not open source, unlike Grok-1, the weights and architecture of which are publicly available. However, during the livestream demo, Musk said xAI will be open sourcing Grok-2 now that Grok 3 is out.
What is a reasoning model?
A reasoning model is designed to analyze complex problems, break them down into logical steps and refine its responses before delivering a final answer. Unlike standard language models that generate quick, pattern-based outputs, reasoning models evaluate multiple possibilities, verify facts and improve accuracy throughout structured problem-solving.
