Elon Musk launches Grok 4 and announces a new subscription plan of $300 for SuperGrok Heavy

Two major developments shook the world of social networks and artificial intelligence yesterday: early on Wednesday, July 9, Linda Yaccarino announced her resignation as CEO of X after two turbulent years leading the platform under Elon Musk. Hours later, Elon himself announced in a live video the launch of Grok 4, his latest flagship AI model and successor to Grok 3. Simultaneously, the tycoon introduced a new subscription at $300 per month (converted from 300 US dollars), granting access to SuperGrok Heavy, the multi-agent version of xAI — the company that has owned X since last March — offering enhanced performance.

Are these two announcements connected? That remains unknown, though one should not believe in mere coincidences. Let us delve into the details of these new developments.

This is Grok 4, the most advanced AI of X

Elon Musk could not afford to fall behind in the race for artificial intelligence, and yesterday he unveiled his latest gem: Grok 4. This new model, developed by xAI, is poised to be faster, more accurate, and, above all, more versatile than its predecessor, Grok 3. In Musk’s own words, delivered during a live presentation alongside two xAI leaders, Grok 4 is approaching “the maximum possible performance” owing to significant improvements in language comprehension, logical reasoning, and content generation.

Introducing Grok 4, the world’s most powerful AI model. Watch the livestream now: https://t.co/59iDX5s2ck

— xAI (@xai) July 10, 2025

Unlike Grok 3 — already known for its sarcastic humor and its ability to interpret complex topics — Grok 4 adds a layer of “situational awareness”, thereby enabling it to respond with greater contextual understanding and adapt more effectively to the user’s intentions. Furthermore, in internal testing, it already ranks among the top on the Arc Prize leaderboard (an evaluation and tracking system that measures AI models’ effectiveness, processing capacity, and accuracy in specific tasks), positioning it as one of the most advanced models currently available — surpassing both GPT-4o from OpenAI and Claude 3 from Anthropic.

“In academic matters, Grok 4 exceeds the doctoral level in all subjects, without exception,” Elon Musk stated during the livestream. “At times, it may lack common sense, and it has not yet invented new technologies nor discovered new physics, but that is only a matter of time,” he added.

Nonetheless, remaining aware of the current reasoning limitations of AI models, Musk remarked, “We are running out of questions for AI testing. Everything has become trivial. The ultimate test of reasoning shall be reality. Can it create a car, a rocket, a new drug? Does it function? Reality is the ultimate judge.”

🚨ELON MUSK: «We’re running out of test questions to ask AI. Everything has become trivial. The ultimate reasoning test for the AI is going to be reality. Can it create a car, or a rocket, or a new medication? Does it work? Reality is the ultimate judge.» pic.twitter.com/FpGHQz4JB8

— Autism Capital 🧩 (@AutismCapital) July 10, 2025

SuperGrok Heavy, the Premium Agentic AI for $300

The major surprise of the evening was the unveiling of SuperGrok Heavy. This premium version, aimed at users with high demands—businesses, research laboratories, and content creators with intensive needs—integrates several Grok agents working in coordination, resulting in higher performance, minimal response times, and colossal processing capacity.

SuperGrok Heavy requires an investment of $300 per month, a figure significantly above the industry norm, even exceeding Perplexity Max ($200 per month), which had already shaken the technology community. To subscribe, simply access X’s subscription settings, select the plan, and link a payment account.

Subscribers will receive early access to several new xAI products planned for launch in the coming months: an AI coding model, a multimodal agent, and a video generation model, scheduled for August, September, and October, respectively.

Between Antisemitism and “Freedom of Speech”: The Great Paradox of X

The recent update to Grok has once again ignited a controversy that had already become recurrent on the platform. Despite the advancements and promises for improvement in xAI’s artificial intelligence, Grok continues to draw criticism due to its responses laden with antisemitism. In recent weeks, several offensive comments generated by the AI went viral again, intensifying public outrage. The AI, which at times appears unable to avoid biases, has brought to light an issue that extends beyond technology itself: the boundaries of content moderation and the responsibility that platforms bear when managing these algorithms.

The political context in which X operates also exacerbates the matter. Since Elon Musk assumed leadership of the platform and made statements in defense of “absolute freedom of expression,” content moderation policies have been notably relaxed. Under this new approach—endorsed by figures such as Donald Trump, even though they are now public adversaries—the circulation of content that would previously have been removed for inciting hatred or spreading misinformation has been permitted. This “opening” in discourse has created a battleground where, for some, plurality of opinions is allowed to flourish; yet for others, it has become fertile ground for extremist messages, harmful stereotypes, and conspiracy theories.

To find out more: Mark Zuckerberg changes moderation rules at Meta to “prioritize free expression”

In this environment, Grok’s problems are not isolated but rather reflect the broader tensions affecting the social network. The biased comments, at times bordering on antisemitism, seem to emerge as a direct consequence of a policy that, instead of counteracting misinformation, allows it to expand in the name of free speech. Despite justifications and the efforts by Musk and xAI to improve their filters and the datasets used to train their models, many users, and even advertisers, have begun to question whether the pursuit of an uncensored space is truly worth the cost in terms of safety, ethics, and trust.

The Resignation of Linda Yaccarino

The other major development of the day was the resignation of Linda Yaccarino as CEO of X, which was submitted early Wednesday morning.

Linda announced her departure through a post on X: “After two incredible years, I have decided to step down as CEO of X. When @elonmusk and I first discussed his vision for X, I knew it would be the opportunity of a lifetime to fulfill the extraordinary mission of this company. I am immensely grateful that he entrusted me with the responsibility of protecting freedom of expression, transforming the company, and turning X into the ultimate everything app.

I am incredibly proud of the X team: the historic transformation in the business that we have accomplished together has been nothing short of extraordinary.

We began with the crucial early work required to prioritize user safety, especially for children, and to restore the trust of advertisers. This team has worked tirelessly — from groundbreaking innovations such as Community Notes and, soon, X Money, to bringing the most iconic voices and content to the platform. Now, the best is yet to come as X embarks on a new chapter with xAI.

X truly is a digital town square for all voices and the most powerful cultural signal in the world. We would not have achieved this without the support of our users, business partners, and the most innovative team in the world.

I will continue cheering you all on as you keep changing the world.

As always, see you on X.”

Musk himself, true to his style, responded simply with “thank you for everything, Linda” on X, offering no further explanation on the reasons nor on who will succeed her.

During her two-year tenure, Yaccarino had to face the exodus of major advertisers, controversies over the previously mentioned moderation of content, and persistent financial issues for the platform. Her arrival was initially regarded as a strategic move to win back brand partners and restore credibility; however, her efforts were overshadowed by Musk’s decisions and the growing politicization of X.

Curiously, her departure occurred on the same day as the launch of Grok 4 and the announcement of SuperGrok Heavy, prompting many to wonder whether both events are connected. Perhaps Musk’s definitive bet on transforming X into an AI-driven platform was what tipped the scales.

Regardless, it is evident that Elon Musk continues to reshape the destiny of X and artificial intelligence in his own way—seeking neither permission nor looking back. It remains to be seen whether users—and advertisers—will continue to accompany him.