Elon Musk defended the progress of xAI’s chatbot Grok on Tuesday, arguing that the company remains in an early growth phase as competition intensifies in the artificial intelligence industry.
Responding on X to criticism comparing Grok unfavorably with rivals such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude, Musk wrote: “What you say is true, but nonetheless our AI will be great. Whether it is the best remains to be seen, but I will never give up. Never.”
Musk added that “Space(XAI) is only 3 years old. That’s half the age of Anthropic and quarter the age of OpenAI. Let’s see where things stand 3 years from now.”
READ: xAI raises $20 billion in Series E round as Grok controversy intensifies (January 7, 2026)
The comments came amid growing scrutiny of xAI’s ability to compete against more established AI firms that have attracted billions of dollars in investment and built dominant positions in enterprise and consumer markets.
Musk compared xAI’s current position to the early years of SpaceX, noting that the aerospace company experienced three Falcon 1 launch failures before eventually becoming a leading commercial launch provider. He also pointed to Starlink’s reported growth to more than 10 million users globally as evidence that long-term development cycles can produce major commercial success.
The remarks also coincided with reports that SpaceX has filed plans for a major Nasdaq public offering under the ticker SPCX. Multiple financial reports said the proposed IPO could seek between $75 billion and $80 billion in fundraising at a valuation ranging from $1.75 trillion to $2 trillion, despite reported 2025 net losses of $4.9 billion.
READ: Musk’s Grok AI may violate App Store rules over inappropriate content in 12+ app (July 17, 2025)
Recent company restructuring has further linked Musk’s artificial intelligence ambitions with his aerospace business. xAI was recently merged into SpaceX operations under the combined branding “Space(XAI),” according to Musk.
While Grok has faced criticism for lagging behind rival AI models in broader reasoning and enterprise adoption, Musk supporters have highlighted its performance in software coding applications and developer-focused tools such as Grok Build.
The AI race has intensified in 2026 as OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Meta continue expanding investments in advanced AI systems, infrastructure, and commercial applications.