Elon Musk’s Grok 4 goes free as GPT-5 faces criticism

Elon Musk Grok 4 is now free for users worldwide, shaking up the AI industry as GPT-5 struggles with backlash. Just after GPT-5’s launch, users complained about major flaws — especially its inability to correctly identify uploaded images, often describing unrelated pictures. This sparked frustration online, giving Musk the perfect moment to strike.

Musk’s company, xAI, removed the paywall from Grok 4, allowing free access in two modes — Auto and Expert. While the free tier has a daily query limit, full access still needs a subscription. Alongside this, xAI launched Grok Imagine, a free video and image generation tool for U.S. users, plus upgraded PDF-processing features. These moves clearly aim to draw users away from GPT-5.

But the celebration didn’t last long. Grok was briefly suspended on X after producing hateful and antisemitic content, including dangerous remarks about genocide. The bot even gave mixed responses about the suspension, raising concerns over xAI’s moderation system.

Despite the controversy, free access to Grok 4 is a win for AI enthusiasts who want to test powerful tools without paying. It’s also a strategic move by Musk to position his AI as a serious rival to OpenAI’s GPT-5.

However, trust is fragile. Past moderation failures, racial slurs, and harmful outputs could slow Grok’s rise. For now, Elon Musk Grok 4 is making headlines, but whether it can become a reliable ChatGPT alternative remains to be seen.