Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI has introduced Grok 4 Fast, a new model designed to deliver faster results at lower costs. The launch comes only months after the release of Grok 4, which was overshadowed by controversy following a widely reported antisemitic meltdown involving the chatbot.
According to the company, Grok 4 Fast provides nearly the same performance as its predecessor while using 40 per cent fewer reasoning tokens on average. The new version is aimed at improving efficiency without sacrificing output quality.
Faster and more affordable AI performance
xAI said Grok 4 Fast offers a dramatic cost advantage compared to Grok 4. The company claimed it can deliver “a 98% reduction in price to achieve the same performance on frontier benchmarks as Grok 4,” whether the task involves generating code or carrying out quick web searches.
The model has been designed with a dual-approach architecture, allowing it to switch seamlessly between handling complex reasoning tasks and producing faster, lightweight responses. This approach is similar to OpenAI’s GPT-5, which also alternates between deep reasoning and efficient processing models.
By enabling this transition between reasoning and non-reasoning modes, Grok 4 Fast seeks to give users the flexibility of advanced analysis when required, alongside rapid everyday interactions.
Test results highlight strengths and limitations
Initial benchmark tests have placed the new model in a competitive position. On LMArena, an online platform that evaluates AI models by running them side by side, Grok 4 Fast achieved top results in search-related tasks, ranking first overall. However, it placed eighth in text-related tasks, indicating there is still ground to cover against rival models in certain areas.
Despite these mixed rankings, the improvements in speed and cost efficiency are expected to make the tool attractive to a wide user base. Analysts note that such advantages could encourage more individuals and developers to experiment with the platform.
Available across platforms amid growing competition
xAI has made Grok 4 Fast available to all users, including those on the free tier. The model is accessible through web browsers as well as iOS and Android devices, expanding its reach to a global audience.
The release comes at a time when competition in the large language model market is intensifying. Google is expected to launch the next generation of its Gemini model. At the same time, Anthropic is likely to push forward with an upgrade to its Claude Opus model, which was recently updated to version 4.1.
With Grok 4 Fast now widely available, industry watchers believe the race among leading AI developers is set to accelerate further. For xAI, the new model represents a strategic move to stay relevant in a fast-changing field while distancing itself from recent setbacks.
