Elon Musk’s xAI promised a groundbreaking AI revolution with the launch of Grok 3 ‘Chocolate’, but the reality was far from the game-changer Musk hyped up. While the livestream drew in over 2.5 million viewers, what unfolded on screen was a mixture of bold claims, contradictions, missing features, and an unclear roadmap.
From technical gaps to Musk making up statistics on the fly, it became obvious that Grok 3, despite its improvements, is still not ready to dethrone OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google. Worse, xAI’s handling of this launch raised more questions than answers—especially regarding Musk’s hiring practices, political contradictions, and lack of transparency.
Here are 15 major failures from the launch of Grok 3 ‘Chocolate’ and why xAI still has a long way to go before it can challenge the top AI companies.
1. No Real-Time API or Developer Access Yet
One of the biggest criticisms of Grok 2 was the lack of an API, making it useless for developers compared to OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. While Grok 3 finally promises an API, it’s still not available yet—only a vague “coming soon” announcement.
For a company claiming to compete with the best AI labs, this delay is a huge setback. Developers need direct access to integrate AI into their workflows, and without it, Grok 3 is just another chatbot for X (Twitter) users.
2. Grok.com Was Down at Launch
During the livestream, Musk and his team announced that Grok 3 would have a standalone website, finally moving away from X exclusivity.
Yet, during the livestream, the site was still showing a 503 Gateway error, meaning xAI wasn’t prepared for the traffic surge. Hours after the announcement, the website though now displaying only has Grok 2 loaded on it.
Compare this to OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, whose AI launches typically go live immediately. The fact that Grok.com failed right after launch raises concerns about xAI’s infrastructure readiness.
3. The $40 ‘SuperGrok’ Subscription Feels Like a Cash Grab
xAI announced SuperGrok, a $40 per month premium subscription, which offers:
- Guaranteed access to Grok 3
- Unlocking DeepSearch and Think
- Higher image generation limits
- Early access to new features
This pricing is significantly higher than ChatGPT Plus ($20/month) and Claude Pro ($20/month). While xAI claims Grok 3 is better, there’s little evidence yet to justify the price. Worse, there was no clear explanation of what “higher image generation limits” actually mean—how many images, at what quality? Right now bundling Grok in X is also one of the reasons people justify premium payments for X.
Without clarity, SuperGrok feels like an expensive gamble.
4. Musk’s ‘15x, 10x, Supercluster’ Claims Were Clearly Made Up
Throughout the livestream, Musk threw out absurd performance claims without citing any real data.
- “This is 15x better than other models!”
- “We’re building a 10x larger supercluster!”
- “The next system will be like AGI, it’s coming soon!”
His own engineers seemed visibly confused, indicating that even they hadn’t heard these numbers before. This lack of coordination suggests Musk is either exaggerating, misleading investors, or simply improvising.
5. Grok 3’s Benchmarks Are Good—But Not Industry-Leading
Despite Musk hyping up xAI’s 200,000 GPU supercomputer, Grok 3’s benchmark results were strong but not dominant and with launches from OpenAi and Anthropic expected in days/weeks, Grok 3 looks most likely to be surpassed much sooner.
While Grok 3 is competitive, it doesn’t dominate across the board, contradicting Musk’s claim that it’s miles ahead of OpenAI.
6. Musk Contradicted His Own Team—Live On Stage
At one point, Musk confidently stated that xAI was already training the next Grok, but his own engineers looked surprised and offered a completely different timeline.
The livestream made it painfully clear that Musk and his team were not on the same page. This raises questions: How involved is Musk really in xAI’s technical operations?
7. xAI’s Leadership Team: A Company of Immigrants—A Stark Contrast to Musk’s Political Rhetoric
One of the most ironic aspects of xAI is its leadership team composition. The top engineers driving Grok 3—Igor Babuschkin, Yuhuai (Tony) Wu, and Jimmy Ba—are all immigrants or first-generation Americans.
Yet, Musk has:
- Repeatedly posted anti-immigrant rhetoric on X.
- Allowed X to amplify right-wing talking points on immigration.
- Pushed a narrative of “protecting American jobs.”
So, does Musk only hire immigrants when it benefits him? Are there any first-generation, “pure American” engineers in xAI’s leadership? Or is this another example of Musk contradicting himself?
8. No Mobile App at Launch
While OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google all have mobile apps, xAI still doesn’t.
- Grok 3 is only available on X or Grok.com.
- This is a major usability failure.
With AI usage shifting heavily toward mobile, xAI ignoring this trend is a massive oversight.
9. No Multimodal Capabilities—Still Just a Text Model
Grok 3 remains a text-only model, while GPT-4o, Gemini, and Claude all support:
- Image processing
- Video analysis
- Voice interactions
Without these capabilities, xAI is already behind the curve.
10. No Transparent Technical Paper or Research Release
OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic release detailed technical papers for new models.
xAI? Nothing.
Instead of transparency, Musk wants users to take his word for it.
11. Still No Open-Source AI Despite Musk’s Promises
For months, Musk promised xAI would open-source its models.
Now? Grok 2 might be open-sourced in “a few months.”
Meanwhile, Mistral and Meta have already open-sourced powerful models. xAI is lagging behind.
12. The Rollout Strategy Is Confusing and Unnecessarily Limited
Instead of launching worldwide like OpenAI and Google, xAI’s rollout is:
- X Premium+ users get it first.
- Then a standalone app.
- Eventually an API.
Why limit access when competitors are scaling globally?
13. Musk’s Overpromising Problem Continues
- He said Grok 3 was “almost AGI.” (It’s not.)
- He hinted at Grok 4 training already happening. (His engineers seemed confused.)
- He claimed “15x better” performance with no evidence.
Musk has a history of overpromising (Full Self-Driving, Neuralink, etc.) and Grok 3 seems to be another case of exaggerated claims.
Final Verdict: Grok 3 ‘Chocolate’ Shows Potential but Has a Long Way to Go
Grok 3 ‘Chocolate’ is a significant step forward for xAI, demonstrating strong reasoning capabilities and competitive performance in benchmarks. The Colossus supercomputer and xAI’s rapid progress in scaling its AI models are impressive achievements.
However, the launch revealed gaps—from unclear rollout strategies and missing features to Musk’s sometimes conflicting statements. While xAI is on the right path, it still needs to refine its approach, provide more transparency, and ensure a smoother user experience.
If xAI can address these concerns, Grok 3 has the potential to become a serious contender in the AI space. But for now, it remains a work in progress, and the real test will be how quickly xAI can turn its bold promises into reality.
