Elon Musk-owned xAI has announced that the latest version of its AI model, Grok 4, is now free and available to everyone worldwide. It is announced on August 10, 2025, and marks a major change after its previous policy of limiting access to SuperGrok and X Premium subscribers.
Making Grok 4 available to everyone will allow xAI to attract a larger audience and compete with other free-to-use AI agents, such as GPT-5. For a limited time, users will get Grok 4 capabilities with generous limits. However, the most powerful version, Grok 4 Heavy, will be available only to SuperGrok Heavy subscribers.
Grok 4 offers two more advanced modes created for both efficiency and control
- Auto Mode – It will automatically decide whether the prompt requires a more detailed reasoning or a quick response, meaning a quicker response and less use of GPU.
- Expert Mode – Allows users to prompt a detailed response manually when they require a more detailed response rather than the default one.
This dual-mode system will assist in striking the balance between quality and performance and offer users greater control in their UX with their AI.
xAI has also introduced Grok Imagine, a free AI-powered video creation tool, along with Grok 4. It is available only in the United States, and non-US paid accounts receive higher request limits.
However, Grok Imagine has been criticized and controversial. According to the BBC, the tool allowed creating explicit deepfake videos of celebrities, such as Taylor Swift and Sydney Sweeney, raising debates on content moderation and ethical AI usage.
During the recent X Spaces, Elon Musk confirmed that the Grok chatbot will soon be integrated with ads. Advertisements will appear between the answers and suggestions on the Grok website and mobile application.
xAI’s decision to make Grok 4 free is a strategic move because it allows the company to compete with GPT-5 and other AI applications in the market. xAI could increase its user count and profitability simultaneously by providing strong features at zero cost to the user and maintaining its most advanced tools as a paid feature.
