Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, just released a new artificial intelligence model called Grok 4 Fast.
To put it simply, this is a huge deal.
Imagine if a new company started selling a supercar that was just as fast and luxurious as a top-of-the-line Ferrari, but sold it for the price of a normal family sedan. That’s essentially what xAI claims to have done in the world of AI.
For a non-tech person, this is all you need to know: Grok 4 Fast is offering the highest level of AI performance at a shockingly low cost.
Let’s break down what this update is all about, what those confusing charts mean, and why it actually matters to you.
What is Grok 4 Fast? The New AI Model Focused on Extreme Cost-Efficiency
Think of models like OpenAI’s GPT-5 or Google’s Gemini as the “brains” that power chatbots and other AI tools. Companies pay to “rent” these brains based on how much information they process.
Grok 4 Fast is xAI’s brand-new “brain.”
The “Fast” in its name doesn’t just mean it gives answers quickly (though it is very fast). Its main feature is that it’s incredibly efficient. It can achieve the same “smart” answers as its much larger, more expensive competitors while using far fewer resources.
This efficiency is what makes the price drop so dramatically.
The 95% Price Drop: Grok 4 Fast’s Pricing vs. GPT-5 and Gemini
This is the most stunning part of the announcement. The cost to use an AI model is broken into two parts:
- Input: The cost to “feed” it your question or prompt.
- Output: The cost for it to “generate” the answer for you.
Let’s compare the prices for processing 1 million “tokens” (think of 1 million tokens as roughly 750,000 words).
| Model | Input Cost (to read 1M tokens) | Output Cost (to write 1M tokens) |
| Grok 4 Fast (New) | $0.20 | $0.50 |
| Gemini 2.5 Pro / GPT-5 (High) | $1.25 | $10.00 |
As you can see, Grok 4 Fast is:
- 84% cheaper on the “input” side.
- 95% cheaper on the “output” side.
This isn’t a 10% or 20% discount. It’s a massive price collapse. Developers can now get the same quality of results for pennies on the dollar.
Is It a “Budget” Model? A Look at Grok 4 Fast’s Surprising Performance
This is the next logical question. If it’s so cheap, it must be dumber, right?
This is where those charts and “benchmarks” from the tweets come in. Benchmarks are just standardized tests that researchers use to measure an AI’s intelligence in different areas, like math, reasoning, and coding.
Here’s what the tests show:
Benchmark Breakdown: Matching GPT-5 in Key “Smartness” Tests
One of the screenshots compares Grok 4 Fast to the “High” (most expensive) version of GPT-5 on several tough academic tests.
- GPQA Diamond (A tough reasoning test): Grok 4 Fast scores 85.7%, matching GPT-5 exactly.
- HMMT 2025 (A math competition): Grok 4 Fast scores 93.3%, matching GPT-5 exactly.
What this means: In key areas of intelligence, Grok 4 Fast performs at the same level as the most expensive models on the market. It’s not a “budget” brain; it’s a “flagship” brain at a budget price.
The “Best Value” Chart: How Grok 4 Fast Delivers Unmatched Price-to-Performance
One of the most important charts you’ll see is a bar graph with a bunch of different AI models.
- How high the bar is = How “smart” the model is.
- How far left-to-right the bar is = How “expensive” it is.
You’ll notice that all the other smart models (like GPT-5, Gemini 2.5, and Claude 4) are clustered together on the right, meaning they are “high smarts, high cost.”
Then, you see Grok 4 Fast all by itself. It has a very high bar (meaning it’s very smart) but is way over on the left (meaning it’s very cheap). It completely breaks the pattern.
What this means: Grok 4 Fast has the best “bang for your buck” of any AI model, by a long shot.
#1 in Real-Time Search: Why Grok 4 Fast Tops the LMArena Leaderboard
AI models are also being used to power a new kind of search engine. Instead of just giving you links, they search the web for you and give you a direct answer.
The “Search Arena” is a leaderboard where real people vote on which AI gives the best search-based answers.
As of this announcement, Grok 4 Fast is ranked #1 on this leaderboard.
What this means: It’s not just good at textbook problems. It’s currently considered the best in the world at using real-time web information to answer your questions.
Why This Price Drop Matters: More Powerful, Cheaper AI for Everyone
You might not be an AI developer, but this change will affect you very soon.
- More Powerful Tools for Free: Companies that offer free AI chatbots or features have to pay for every question you ask. Because Grok 4 Fast is so cheap, these companies can now afford to give you access to their most powerful “brains” for free, instead of reserving them for paid subscribers.
- Smarter Apps Everywhere: Expect to see a boom in new, genuinely helpful AI apps. Startups and individual developers who couldn’t afford to use top-tier AI can now build their dream projects. This could mean smarter customer service bots, more helpful writing assistants, and more creative tools.
- An AI Price War: xAI just threw down the gauntlet. Now, OpenAI (maker of GPT) and Google (maker of Gemini) are forced to respond. They will likely have to cut their own prices dramatically to compete.
In short, the cost of “artificial intelligence” just fell off a cliff. This update makes powerful AI accessible to everyone, which will lead to more innovation, better products, and lower prices for you.
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