Grok is no longer limited to X. The AI chatbot, developed by Elon Musk’s xAI company, has launched an iOS mobile app available in the U.S., Australia, India, and several other countries. This move signals xAI’s ambition to rival other AI chatbot platforms like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Anthropic’s Claude, each of which has established standalone apps.
The mobile app is powered by the same Grok-2 AI model used in its X-based iteration. It offers features such as text rewriting and summarization, answering queries, and generating images from text prompts. For users seeking current information, Grok integrates real-time data from both the web and X. Initially exclusive to X’s premium subscribers, Grok has broadened its reach with the introduction of a free tier and the launch of its dedicated website, Grok.com.
Mobile Grok's Standout Features
Grok’s image-generation capabilities are likely to attract a significant user base. xAI has showcased its photorealistic rendering technology powered by the Flux AI model, which can also analyze uploaded photos and identify objects captured by a phone’s camera. There’s speculation that the app may incorporate the Aurora image model, a tool briefly and accidentally released by xAI before being withdrawn.
However, the AI's image creation abilities have sparked debates around copyright and intellectual property. Some users have faced legal challenges for creating unauthorized depictions of copyrighted characters, like Nintendo’s Mario, leading to action by copyright enforcement tools such as Tracer.
A Strategic Expansion
Grok’s move beyond X represents more than just feature diversification—it reflects xAI’s strategy to compete with established AI tools and attract paying users. The company appears intent on building a broader ecosystem where users might pay for X to access Grok or vice versa. Whether Grok can outpace its competitors remains to be seen, but its mobile debut is undoubtedly a significant step in that direction.