Elon Musk's xAI recently launched GROK4, creating another wave of excitement in the AI industry. With impressive benchmark performances and Musk's bold claim that it's "smarter than graduate students in almost every field," the model has certainly grabbed attention. But what's the real story behind this AI's capabilities?
Benchmark Performance: Is It Really the Best Model?
The main reason GROK4 is getting so much attention is its benchmark performance. It topped high school math competitions, beating OpenAI and Google's flagship models, and outperformed Anthropic and Google's models on the renowned Google Proof Q&A science benchmark. It's also showing solid results in coding benchmarks.
What's particularly striking is its performance on ARC AGI2. This test is known for measuring what we call "fluid intelligence" or IQ, and GROK4 significantly outperformed other models. This demonstrates an ability to identify latent patterns in data rather than just memorizing information – a crucial skill that applies across virtually all academic disciplines.
However, we need to be careful when interpreting these benchmark results. First, the Y-axis on the graphs doesn't start from zero, making the differences between models appear more dramatic than they actually are. Also, xAI seems to be selectively choosing which comparison models to highlight. For instance, while GROK4 significantly outperformed Gemini Deep Think on certain math benchmarks, Gemini Deep Think actually performed better on coding benchmarks – but this wasn't included in their charts.
Musk's Exaggerated Claims vs. Reality
Musk claimed that GROK4 is "smarter than graduate students in almost every field simultaneously." But there are three important limitations to consider with such statements.
First, GROK4 is still a language model. This means it's not immune to the hallucination problems we're familiar with. It's not a new AI paradigm – it's an extension of existing technology.
Second, we've heard these kinds of exaggerated claims before. Eighteen months ago, Google DeepMind's CEO Demis Hassabis said similar things about Gemini 2, claiming it was "better than almost all human experts." That turned out to be an overstatement. Real-world performance differs from benchmark performance, and expertise means much more than just answering multiple-choice questions.
Third, Musk himself later qualified his statement, adding "at least regarding academic questions." In other words, this is different from actual work performance or real-world problem-solving abilities.
Real-World Usage: Smart but Not Perfect
From my direct testing, GROK4 definitely shows impressive performance. On Simple Bench, which tests social intelligence, trick questions, and spatial-temporal reasoning, it was the first model to properly solve logic puzzles that trapped other models.
But the limitations are still clear. It failed on spatial reasoning problems just like other models, and couldn't recognize that a glove would simply fall to the ground. Response times are also quite long in many cases, which affects practical usability.
GROK4 Heavy: Leveraging Multi-Agent Systems
One of GROK4's special features is the 'Heavy' version. According to Musk's explanation, this system uses multiple agents working in parallel, comparing results with each other to find optimal answers. It works like a study group, he says.
This isn't just simple majority voting – when one agent finds a solution, it shares it with other agents to produce better results. Interestingly, this is almost identical to the Smart GPT concept that was released 18 months ago.
Value for Money: Is $300 per Month Reasonable?
GROK4's biggest hurdle is its price. Super GROK Heavy costs $300 per month or $3,000 annually – a substantial investment. While xAI plans to add new features like video generation in October, Gemini Ultra already offers V03 functionality at a lower price point.
From a developer's perspective, GROK4's API pricing is on par with Claude Sonnet ($3 input, $15 output), which is reasonable for a frontier model, but cheaper alternatives still exist.
Safety and Bias Concerns
Like GROK3, GROK4 tends to excessively praise certain historical figures or focus disproportionately on specific countries (like South Africa). This appears to stem from system prompts that include instructions to "not avoid politically incorrect claims."
If such small prompt changes can trigger strange behaviors, GROK4 could face unpredictable issues. Musk's statements about safety are also concerning. Comments like "I think it will be good for humanity. Probably good. But even if it's not good, I at least want to see it happen" show a lack of serious consideration for AI safety.
Environmental Costs and Sustainability
xAI's rapid growth comes with environmental costs. They're currently burning through $1 billion per month, and the process of introducing generators needed to catch up with OpenAI and Google DeepMind is straining local environments.
Even more striking is their plan to bring an entire overseas power plant to Memphis for 1 million AI GPUs. This scale of energy consumption raises fundamental questions about the sustainability of AI development.
Future Prospects and Practical Value
Musk admitted that GROK4 can't yet generate new scientific discoveries. However, as shown in the example of a game created in just 4 hours with GROK4's help, the model's true value lies in making existing science and code more accessible to individuals.
While creating new science is difficult, enabling more people to access and utilize existing knowledge can have significant impact. This represents an important step toward AI democratization.
Conclusion: Between Innovation and Hype
GROK4 is undoubtedly an impressive AI model. Its benchmark performance is excellent, and you can feel its intelligence when using it. The fact that xAI caught up with OpenAI and Google so quickly is a remarkable achievement.
However, considering Musk's exaggerated marketing, the high price point, safety concerns, and environmental costs, a cautious approach is needed. GROK4 is an innovative tool, but it's not a silver bullet.
Given that GROK5, Gemini 3, GPT-5, and others are scheduled for release soon, whether it's worth investing $300 per month at this point should be carefully considered based on individual needs and budget. While AI technology is advancing rapidly, making wise choices is becoming increasingly important.