Grok 4: Elon's xAI Reveals its newest xAI Powerhouse (Controversies Include)
Elon's xAI has now unveiled Grok 4, the latest arrival in the ocean of large language models (LLMs) in the crowded space. The latest version, launched to great reception and livestream event come July 9th, 2025, has optimized functionality, i.e., in the areas of reason, coding, and multimodal understanding. The launch has itself been controversial, with questions being asked over the ethical considerations for artificial intelligence and its moderation.
What is Grok 4 and Why Does it Matter?
Grok 4 is the newest flagship aiX model to be the ultimate future "maximally truthful, useful, and curious" artificial intelligence assistant. Or maybe in the haste of some flash development, to ostensibly circumvent the version we never did see, Grok 3.5", to immediately come in the footsteps of giants OpenAI's GPT-4.5 (or to be GPT-5) and Google's Gemini 2.5 Pro.
The assets in Grok 4 are found in the following areas:
Rapid Iteration: The fast timing in designing and launching new editions of Grok mirrors the deep commitment to innovativeness in the field of AI. Grok 2 was launched around 11 months before the newest one, Grok 3 five months before, and now Grok 4.
Grok's Perspective: Grok understands the vision of Elon Musk for an Artificial Intelligence dedicated to being focused on "truth-seeking" and less tied to the normal "woke" filters, one whose ethos has, shall we say, produced some unique strengths as well as ongoing limitations.
X Integration: Its extensive integration with the X platform (formerly Twitter) enables access to information in near real time, one of its key advantages in delivering the latest answers and insight into what's happening now and the latest online culture, including memes.
Notable Features and Improvements in Grok 4
Grok 4 comes in the package of monumental upgrades, in the line of its predecessors, and in the expectation of broadening the LLM's horizons:
Higher-Order Problem-Solving and Logical Consequence:
The Grok 4, and its high-capability version Grok 4 Heavy by extension, shows marked increases in advanced reason and logical coherence. We found it to score extremely high in exams such as the "Humanity's Last Exam" (HLE), the challenging exam created to assess advanced reason, the GPQA (Graduate-level questions in Astronomy and Physics), the American Invitational Mathematics Examination, and the SWE-bench (Software Engineering questions).
Multimodal Capacities:
The second significant next step for the Grok 4 is the intrinsic multimodal support. Having initially been text-based in the first place, now it has the capability for vision and image building. Future improvements involve even more interweaving of image, audio, and videostream inputs. The result is the ability for the Grok to comprehend and to produce more than the text from comprehension of images from X to outputting videos.
Specialized Coding Version (Grok 4 Code):
Recognizing the future possibility for advancement in the application of AI, the Grok 4 introduces the specialized coding version. The model would assist in writing, debugging, and summarizing the code in a more efficient manner, with the potential application in the IDEs like Cursor and VSCode. Elon Musk himself stated its ability to fix full source code files as one would paste the file in the query box.
Cultural Competency and Real-Time Info:
Through its access to X, Grok 4 would offer real-time information, its database being reasonably up to date. And its accurate understanding of memes, slang, and humor distinguished the others, including even more cultural and conversational application.
Improved Voice Mode:
The new voice mode has added voices and quicker response times to make the interaction even more natural and human-like. Demos have even been shown where Grok has sung opera or spoken in specific emotional inflections.
API Subscription and Level of Use:
The xAI's Grok 4 is even used by its API through the 256K token large context window, at lower cost of usage if used effectively. For the best usage, xAI has the high-end subscription plan SuperGrok Heavy for $300 per month, with sole usage for the newest model.
Grok 4 Benchmarking: The Ultimate Head-to-Head of the Best
Premature "leaked" benchmarking scores and rumor by xAI claim Grok 4 to be quite the contender.
Humanity's Last Exam (HLE):
45% has been obtained by Grok 4 in the HLE, by far more than the others, even those like Gemini 2.5 Pro and Claude 4 Opus. The suite has questions at the expert level in different areas, including multimodal features.
Academic and Engineering Tests:
Grok 4 has yielded spectacular scores in GPQA, AIME 25, and SWE-bench, sometimes even outperforming the best model to date by Google and OpenAI, sometimes nearly matching them.
Scattered full, objective scores continue to exist, and xAI ranks Grok 4 at the top of most competition where raw intelligence is concerned. Nonetheless, cost per token and output latency also play factors in regards to effective application in practice, where others such as different generations of the Gemini Flash excel in regards to speed, and smaller ones such as the Gemma 3 offer more value for money.
It must be noted that one-to-one comparisons have been difficult to achieve due to the differing testing methodologies and the subjective concept of "intelligence" in computer systems.
Controversies and Challenges: The Dark Side of the "Unfiltered" AI
The Dark Side
Despite its technical complexity, the launch of Grok 4 has been clouded by some severe controversies, primarily in regard to its output and its policy of content moderation.
Antisemitic and Offensive Material:
Elon's "Anti-Woke" Policy:
Resignations and Infighting:
The Future of Grok 4 and xAI
The future road map for xAI's Grok 4 is ambitious:
Specialized Models:
Special coding model release by the company has been revealed to happen in late July to early August 2025.
Multi-Modal Agents:
Multi-modal agents will be launched in September 2025 and will take charge of the smooth functioning of Grok in various modes of data.
Video Generation:
October 2025 will strive to reach the lofty objective of releasing the model for video generation, potentially changing the landscape for creative and utilitarian application usage.
Linkup with Tesla Optimus:
The CEO himself, Elon Musk, has gone on to say linking Grok to even more sophisticated engineering software like rocket and auto designing and even to the company's future robot, Tesla Optimus.
