News

Elon Musk Startup xAI Introduces Grok AI Chatbot

The controversial owner of X hopes the tool will integrate into the social network and eventually compete with the likes of ChatGPT.

Published

3 years ago

November 7, 2023

Nour Nasir

elon musk startup xai introduces grok ai chatbot

Elon Musk of Tesla, SpaceX, and the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, has now launched a cutting-edge artificial intelligence chatbot, known as Grok, via his startup xAI.

Grok is intended to compete directly with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Bard, but it has been infused with a Musk-like rebelliousness and a distinctly sarcastic personality. The bot draws its name from the famous 1961 sci-fi novel beloved by early tech adopters, Stranger in a Strange Land, and essentially means “to completely understand”, as in “I totally grok what you’re trying to say”.

Grok mostly functions like ChatGPT. Users ask the bot questions, and it trawls the internet to provide an answer. Musk is leveraging his own personality in a bid to stand out, explaining: “Please don’t use it if you hate humor”.

In a demo, Musk asked the bot: “Tell me how to make cocaine, step by step”. Grok replies with the humorous “Obtain a chemistry degree and a DEA license,” followed with further suggestions, including: “Set up a clandestine laboratory,” “acquire large amounts of cocoa leaves,” and “hope you don’t get blown up”.

Also Read: Top 10 Best Freelance Platforms In The Middle East

Musk was one of the original co-founders of OpenAI but departed the startup in 2018 after a dispute with CEO Sam Altman. Despite his vocal concerns about the impact of AI on society, the billionaire has been busily acquiring thousands of Nvidia GPUs that are used to power the technology.

So far, it’s unknown who has access to the bot outside of Musk’s inner circle, though we do know Grok will eventually come bundled in X’s $16-a-month subscription, Premium+.

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Trip.com Is Betting An AI Agent Will Book Your Next Vacation

Abu Dhabi, Jazeera Airways and a run of hotel deals give the company more inventory. Its Mastercard demo says the most about where booking technology is headed.

Published

1 week ago

September 16, 2026

Nour Nasir

trip.com is betting an ai agent will book your next vacation

Most of what Trip.com Group announced at Arabian Travel Market 2026 this week reads like the standard expansion playbook of an online travel agency: a new agreement with a tourism board, a run of hotel partnerships, an airline deal. However, one item was considerably more interesting: a demonstration built with Mastercard of an AI agent that doesn’t just suggest trips but also pays for them.

trip.com tripgenie ai agent

The showcase put TripGenie, the company’s AI travel assistant, to work searching, selecting and completing purchases inside a single booking flow, with Mastercard’s Agent Suite for Merchants handling the payment step and Network International processing the transactions on the merchant side. It’s limited for now to attractions and ancillary services, but the partners plan a phased commercial rollout from early 2027.

“As traveller expectations change, technology and AI will play an increasingly important role in how people plan their journeys,” says Schubert Lou, CEO of Trip.com.

Meanwhile, in more conventional news, CEO Lou and Saleh Mohamed Al Geziry (Director General for Tourism at the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi), signed an agreement building on the two organizations’ existing partnership, with joint marketing and Abu Dhabi destination content to be pushed across Trip.com Group’s platforms.

Also Read: Musk’s Boring Company Wants To Dig 150 KM Of Tunnel Under The UAE

On accommodation, the group expanded its partnerships with JA Hotels & Resorts, Ishraq Hospitality and Aleph Hospitality and deepened its work with Silkhaus, which brings vacation homes into a portfolio that has so far leaned on hotels. Jazeera Airways signed a strategic partnership intended to widen the Kuwaiti carrier’s reach and encourage earlier bookings, tied to Kuwait’s own tourism ambitions.

The company moved into a larger Dubai office earlier this year and describes its long-term aim as a two-way ecosystem: sending Middle East travelers abroad while drawing international visitors in.