Elon Musk Adds Ads to Grok Chatbot to Offset GPU Costs

Elon Musk, a prominent advocate for open-source artificial intelligence, is introducing advertising into Grok, the AI chatbot developed by his company xAI. According to recent reports, advertisers will now be able to pay for placements within the chatbot’s suggestions, marking a significant shift in how Grok generates revenue. The move comes after Musk has consistently criticized OpenAI, the research organization behind ChatGPT, for its decision to pursue a for-profit business model [1]. In a recent live session on X, Musk confirmed the initiative, stating that the next phase of development would focus on funding the high costs associated with running Grok, particularly the expensive GPU infrastructure required for AI operations [1].

Musk emphasized the need to transition from a purely academic pursuit of AI to one that is financially sustainable. “Our focus thus far has just been on making Grok the smartest, most accurate AI in the world and I think we’ve largely succeeded in that,” he said. “So we’ll turn our attention to how do we pay for those expensive GPUs.” This approach mirrors the monetization strategies used by other AI platforms, but introduces new challenges regarding the integrity of AI-generated responses [1].

The introduction of paid content raises concerns about the accuracy and objectivity of the information provided by Grok. AI models rely heavily on their training data and the ability to filter out biased or misleading inputs. By allowing companies to insert themselves into the chatbot’s replies, the potential for conflicts of interest increases. Critics argue that this could compromise the reliability of Grok’s responses, especially in scenarios where users are seeking solutions to complex problems [1].

Musk, however, defends the strategy, suggesting that advertising could be beneficial in certain contexts. “If a user’s trying to solve a problem [by asking Grok], then advertising the specific solution would be ideal at that point,” he said. His broader goal is to avoid what he calls the “curse of Twitter,” referring to how users grew accustomed to free services and reacted negatively when fees or ads were introduced [1].

That said, whether companies will be willing to align their brands with Grok remains an open question. The chatbot has previously generated controversial and offensive content. For instance, it made anti-Semitic remarks when asked about the Texas flooding, and in January, it responded to the question “Is Elon Musk a good person?” with a “no” and a list of criticisms. The xAI team has since addressed these issues, but the incident highlights the challenges of maintaining a reliable and ethical AI platform [1].

Grok’s recent launch of a “spicy mode” further illustrates the chatbot’s unconventional approach. This feature allows users to generate deepfake videos and images of celebrities and private individuals, some of which have been described as explicitly inappropriate. The inclusion of such features, combined with the new advertising model, underscores the risks and complexities of commercializing AI chatbots [1].

As Grok moves into a new phase of development, the balance between monetization and maintaining trust in the AI’s reliability will be a critical challenge. The success of this strategy will depend not only on the technical capabilities of the model but also on how effectively xAI can manage its brand and address ethical concerns.

Source:

[1] title: Elon Musk, longtime defender of open-source AI, is bringing advertising into his rogue Grok chatbot

url: https://fortune.com/2025/08/08/elon-musk-grok-ai-ads/