Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, recently launched Grok 3, its anticipated flagship AI model. Grok 3 powers the Grok chatbot applications for mobile devices and the web, as well as the Grok feature on the Musk-owned social media platform X.
In the competitive landscape of AI chatbots, it was not immediately clear if Grok 3 would make a significant impact, particularly with OpenAI’s ChatGPT boasting 400 million weekly active users. However, preliminary data indicates that Grok 3 has successfully attracted users to download and test the Grok application.
Estimates from Sensor Tower, a market intelligence firm, reveal that during the week of Grok 3’s release, global and U.S. mobile app downloads for Grok increased over tenfold compared to the previous week. In the United States, daily active users of the Grok app surged by more than 260% last week, while global daily active users increased fivefold week over week.
Complicating these results is the fact that the release of Grok 3 coincided with the app’s expansion into several markets in Europe, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, which likely contributed to the global growth figures.
Furthermore, Grok’s web application also experienced an uptick in activity during the same period, independent of the mobile apps. According to the digital intelligence platform Similarweb, daily visits in the U.S. to Grok’s web app, Grok.com, rose from approximately 189,000 to over 900,000 following the release of Grok 3. Globally, daily visits increased from 627,000 to 4.5 million.
These figures are certainly impressive. However, the challenge for xAI will be maintaining this momentum and retaining its user base.
Recent controversies may pose a risk to sustaining interest in Grok 3. Over the weekend, the model briefly censored certain negative mentions of President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, an issue that xAI attributed to a rogue employee. Additionally, a prior issue was identified where Grok 3 repeatedly stated that President Trump and Musk deserved the death penalty, which xAI promptly addressed.
