Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI, has made a bold entry into the AI landscape with its latest model, Grok-3. In a community-driven blind evaluation, an early version of Grok-3 outperformed AI models from OpenAI, Google, and DeepSeek, securing the top rank in multiple categories.
Grok-3’s Strong Debut
On Feb. 18, Musk announced the release of Grok-3 during a livestream on X, revealing that an early version of the model had been deployed on LMarena under the alias “chocolate” for testing. The blind test, conducted by Chatbot Arena, allowed users to compare AI chatbots without knowing their identities. Participants ranked responses based on quality, contributing to over a million recorded votes.
According to xAI’s internal evaluation, Grok-3 scored at least 10 points higher than competitors such as ChatGPT o3mini, o1, DeepSeek-R1, and Gemini-2 Flash Thinking in key areas, including math, science, and coding. Additionally, LMArena reported that Grok-3 achieved the highest ranking across all measured categories, including instruction following, creative writing, and handling complex prompts.
The xAI team highlighted that the AI chatbot reached a record score of 1400 in Chatbot Arena’s rankings, marking a significant milestone. Musk commented on this achievement, emphasizing that the score is “1400 and climbing,” indicating continued improvements to the model.
AI-Powered Mars Mission on the Horizon
Beyond the AI chatbot technical performance, Musk revealed ambitious plans to integrate xAI’s technology into future space missions. He disclosed that SpaceX aims to deploy a Tesla Bot powered by Grok on its next Mars mission, scheduled for late 2026.
Musk explained that the ideal launch window for Earth-to-Mars transit occurs every 26 months, making Q4 2026 the next opportunity for interplanetary missions. He stated, “If all goes well, SpaceX will send Starship rockets to Mars with Optimus robots and Grok.”
Controversy Surrounding xAI Engineer’s Exit
Meanwhile, internal tensions within xAI surfaced when an engineer resigned over a social media post ranking the latest AI chatbot below ChatGPT. On Feb. 12, engineer DeKraker shared his opinion on X, favoring OpenAI’s model over Grok-3. He later revealed that xAI management pressured him to delete the post or face termination.
“I either had to delete the post quoted below or face being fired,” DeKraker wrote. “After reviewing everything and thinking a lot, I’ve decided that I’m not going to delete the post — which is very clearly a harmless personal opinion.”
The incident raises questions about internal policies at xAI as the company positions Grok-3 as a major competitor in the AI space.
The Road Ahead
With the latest AI chatbot’s strong performance in early testing, xAI is positioning itself as a serious challenger to leading AI developers. As competition in the AI landscape intensifies, industry watchers will be keeping a close eye on how Grok-3 evolves and whether Musk’s vision for AI-driven space exploration becomes a reality.
