Elon Musk throttles Grok Bot over unsustainable costs

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 2 Nov, 16:39 · Archive

Elon Musk has deliberately reduced Grok Bot users' weekly allowances, citing unsustainably high serving costs relative to revenue.

Grok Bot users discovered their weekly usage limits had been unexpectedly maxed out over the Halloween weekend, with some reporting sudden jumps from 50% to 100% usage despite not actively using the AI service. Elon Musk confirmed the throttling was intentional, stating that 'the cost of serving Grok Bot was unsustainably high relative to revenue'.

The move comes as Grok Bot has experienced rapid growth. Musk recently described it as having 'the fastest growth of a product that I've ever seen in my life'. TechCrunch reports that Grok Bot has become a success story for SpaceX's newly public status, with AI making up 52% of company income according to a recent filing. SpaceX's Super Intelligence division reportedly turned a profit of $431 million, though this would have been higher without $1.2 billion in one-time costs from acquiring Cursor.

The throttling reflects broader industry concerns over AI profitability. Tech stocks fell sharply as investors grew concerned over the industry's sustainability. Google has acknowledged that its own AI summaries have hurt search advertising revenue, while users of services like ChatGPT and Claude Code often spend significantly more in tokens than they pay in monthly subscriptions.

Musk has not yet clarified how subscribers' usage limits will be affected moving forward.

How it is being reported

• Elon Musk throttles Grok Bot limits due to ‘unsustainably high’ costsMusk recently referred to Grok Bot as having "the fastest growth of a product that I've ever seen in my life."TechCrunch · 2 Nov, 16:23
• Elon Musk says Grok Bot was throttled as costs were ‘unsustainably high’Grok Bot was throttled last week because Elon Musk said costs were ‘unsustainably high relative to revenue’TechRadar · 2 Nov, 13:22

In this story: Elon Musk · Grok Bot · SpaceX · Google · ChatGPT · Claude

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem · Corrections log