xAI opens Grok 4 to all users, but image and video tools remain restricted: Know what’s accessible
xAI has widened access to its latest artificial intelligence model, Grok 4, making it available to all users from Sunday. The rollout marks a significant expansion from the model’s initial release last month, when it was restricted to paying subscribers on the company’s SuperGrok and X Premium plans.
Global rollout with limited-time usage boost
The company announced the development on X, stating that the expansion applies globally. For a limited period, those using the free tier will be offered what xAI described as “generous usage limits” to trial its newest large language model. The move comes shortly after Elon Musk, who owns xAI, made the Grok Imagine video generation feature available to all US-based users at no cost, and just three days after OpenAI opened access to its GPT-5 model for all registered users.
For those not subscribed to xAI’s paid tiers, Grok 4 will offer two modes: Auto and Expert. Auto mode determines automatically whether a prompt requires a higher reasoning budget for a detailed and elaborate response, or whether a faster, less resource-intensive mode will suffice. Expert mode gives users the option to manually switch to reasoning mode if they believe the default output is insufficient.
Premium features remain restricted
However, access to Grok 4 Heavy, the company’s most capable variant, will remain limited to SuperGrok Heavy subscribers. Likewise, Grok Imagine, which can generate both images and videos, will remain unavailable to free-tier users outside the United States. Paid subscribers will continue to receive higher request limits across all features.
The announcement also comes amid plans by xAI to integrate advertisements directly into Grok’s interface. In a recent Spaces discussion, Musk said ads could appear within answers and suggestions on both the website and mobile apps. He argued that additional revenue streams were necessary to cover the cost of the “expensive” GPUs that power the chatbot. However, he did not specify whether advertisements would be clearly marked as such.
By broadening Grok 4’s reach, xAI appears to be increasing user exposure to its latest model while keeping some premium capabilities behind a paywall.
