X, the platform that was once Twitter, has just launched Grok-2 and Grok-2 mini, the latest AI models from xAI. These models bring enhanced reasoning abilities and, for the first time, allow users to generate images directly within X.
According to xAI, Grok-2 marks a significant upgrade from the previous Grok-1.5 model. Both Grok-2 and Grok-2 mini have been tested on a wide range of academic benchmarks, covering areas like reasoning, reading comprehension, math, science, and coding.
The results have shown Grok-2 to be competitive with other advanced models, excelling in fields such as graduate-level science knowledge (GPQA), general knowledge (MMLU), and math competitions (MATH). Grok-2 also stands out in vision-based tasks, delivering top-tier performance in visual math reasoning (MathVista) and document-based question answering (DocVQA).
The new image generation feature is already sparking interest, mainly for its lack of guardrailsβbrowse the site for a few minutes, and youβll find any number of wacky generations, usually involving a politician. According to xAI, Grok-2 uses FLUX 1, an AI model built by German-based Black Forest Labs, a company that recently raised $31 million from the likes of AI6Z.
Despite the modelβs advancements, many early testers noted that Grok-2 still has room for improvement, particularly in areas like code generation and news summaries, which had caused issues with the first version of Grok.
Developers will soon have access to Grok-2 and Grok-2 mini via an enterprise API, which is expected to roll out later this month. For those eager to try it out, Grok-2 is available in beta for Premium users on X.