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Recently, Xai and Elon Musk unveiled a whole bunch of new features for Grok, their AI assistant. And they have, you know, they have all these like anime characters that are in there that you can now talk to AI characters. And they also had a brand new model, Grok 4 that was launched today. On the podcast, I want to break down all of the statistics and numbers of basically what has happened to the company since all these announcements. Has the complete company completely cratered? Has it grown the results? I was absolutely mind blown by and not for the reasons that you would think. So I'm going to be diving into all of that. I feel like this episode is almost going to play out like a case study in viral app and, you know, AI marketing. What happens is all publicity is no publicity, bad publicity, or is there something that you should probably, some things you should probably not do. We're going to get into all of that on the podcast today, but before we do, I wanted to mention if you want to try the latest model of Grok 4 for I would love for you to go try out AI Box AI, my very own startup where we have 40 of the top AI models all on the same platform for $20 a month. So you don't need subscriptions to every single platform to try every different AI model out. You can get it all there. We have around 40 different AI image and audio models as well. And you can chat with all of them the same thread, like Chat GPT, but you just switch between what model you want to talk to. And sometimes if you get a response from one model where you're like, I don't really like how Claude answered that, you get it to regenerate the response with Google gemini or with ChatGPT and see if you get better responses from different models because models do have different strengths and weaknesses. So this is something really fun that I like to play with. 20 bucks a month link is in the description AI box AI, it's in beta right now and I would love to have you test it out and let me know what you think. Let me know if you think of any new features that we should be adding. We're actively developing this. All right, let's get into what's going on right now with the latest in Grox, the latest in Grox analytics, basically. So what's interesting, they just pulled, they just unveiled all of these new AI companions. Elon Musk had, you know, all of these, you know, goth anime girl AI companion that can talk to you and this, you know, fuzzy animal that's you know, Freddy, but you could turn it into bad Freddy and then it can cuss you out and yell at you if you want. So there's like these different, these different companions. Do they actually make money? You know, what is kind of the end game there? I think it's really. There's some interesting parallels with character AI and Perplexity and kind of the ways they're approaching growth in the AI sector, how they're planning on growing. But what are, what was the outcome? So basically what happened was Grok 4 launched on July 9, and by the 11th Grox gross revenue on iOS, right? So we can go look. There's a bunch of. There's like Sensor Tower and app figures, a bunch of these tools that basically track how much money these apps are generating. And basically the iOS revenue jumped by about 325. So this is before the anime Girlfriend came out. This is when it was just Grok 4, the new model. And basically that new model beat every benchmark. And Grok 4 was, you know, by benchmarks, the number one AI model is the smartest. And so the usage jumped by about the gross revenue jumped by about 325% to $419,000. So this was up from about $99,000 the day before Grok launched, which is pretty impressive. It put in way higher numbers than usual following the launch of the new model. So gross revenue was 367 for a couple days following. Uh, then it kind of dipped down, went to about 300,000 by the 14th of July. Um, and in addition to that, beyond just the revenue, which definitely saw a big spike, daily downloads of the app increased by about 279%. So we went to about 197,000 by July 11, and that's up from 50,000. So basically went from 50,000 to 200,000 in one day, which is just huge. So many downloads. And that's all thanks to Grok4. They had the new model, everybody wanted to test it out. So it saw like a huge, you know, huge jump. So basically with all of that, this is, that's what we saw after they announced the new model, Grok 4. So what happened when they announced all of the new AI companions, which I personally on my podcast have kind of talked about how I think that they're dumb and yada yada, and people, you know, are telling me all the reasons why they're not dumb. So I see there's two sides of the argument. But in any case, following all of the AI companions being launched, the downloads and revenue increased, but it was definitely less pronounced. So I think a lot of people are kind of curious about this and that's why they would want to go install it and see, you know, how it was doing. And it's about 30 bucks a month if you want Super Grok. So that's what you have to like have in order to use it. Although I think if you just get a premium subscription of Twitter, which is what I have, then you get, you know, premium, you had a premium XAI or GROK account and I think that's cheaper. I think I'm paying. I can't remember, but I thought it was cheaper. Maybe, maybe actually they bumped it up. So I'm not sure I should double check on that. In any case, the, the iOS downloads were up by about 40% the day after. So that's compared to, you know, that's after the companions launched. So they were at about 171,000 daily installs. Revenue increased about 9%. So it hit 337,000. But that's not like insane, right? Like, like we went from, you know, on the last, the last time they, they put out a huge release, the, the revenue went from like 99,000. So basically a hundred thousand to 420,000. Right. So it was like 4x and this time they're jumping up the, jumping up to about327,337,000. So it's, and, and they were already like much higher on average. So it wasn't, it wasn't anything too crazy. I think that there was definitely an impact from the AI Companions, but I think it was way smaller than when they released a new AI model which is interesting. People, as I predicted, would appreciate a better model more than an AI companion that can talk to you. I think that's kind of a no brainer. You could use the AI model for literally everything and empowering everything in the chat Companions. Kind of a novelty. It's kind of funny. It's probably a big marketing gimmick. But in any case, I did think this was pretty interesting. Now what I will mention is that XDAI did announce that in addition to Grok 4 and Grok 4 Heavy, it's going to have a 300 per month subscription called Grok Super Grock Heavy. This is the most expensive plan and honestly everybody has like a 200amonth plan anyways. Anthropic OpenAI Google like everybody's especially if you have these video models. So it's not crazy that they have a more expensive tier. $300 is I think one of the more expensive of the most expensive tiers that I've seen. So, you know, I, I, I'm curious to see what kind of usage they get, like if more people are using that, they are the best model. And so I think when you are the number one model, you can demand a premium. I'd be curious to see how many people actually signed up for that though, because I feel like even the $200 a month from OpenAI, they basically use it to get you to use operator and OpenAI's Sora image or video model. Right. So they, they like have all these really cool features that seem like they add a ton of value and that's kind of what's the 200 feels like it's paywalling. Whereas this, it's just for basically deep research, which I think OpenAI technically has like a $200 premium deep research tool, but I don't know how many people were paying the $200 exclusively for that. So I think it's going to be interesting to see the Groq subscription plan demand, especially since all of these launches have come out now. I will say as far as their app is going and ranking on the overall charts, Grok after, you know, all of this stuff came out, grok's new model got Grok to rank, to basically go up in the US App Store. It was the number three app overall. It was number two in productivity, but that definitely went down after the new model came out. So. And the app is now about number 17, although it's still number two in productivity, which is pretty great. So overall popular, but not the most popular. This is, we have way more data on iOS than on Android and also they keep coming out with new features on iOS first before Android, as I feel like everybody does and as Android users always complain about. So I think that we're definitely going to be see a way bigger bump on iOS than Android just because of, because the features aren't always over there as well. So this is super interesting. I think overall the moral of the story is AI companies, we beg you, please focus on making better models and not just gimmicks or new features which might seem interesting but aren't really going to drive you that much more revenue and users. Although better models is pretty hard, getting to be the number one benchmark model is not easy it and so big kudos over to the XAI team. They've done that in a record amount of time. I think 12 months ago they didn't really have any product at all. And 12 months later, they're the number one AI model, beating, you know, OpenAI. Now, are they the number one AI company? Absolutely not. OpenAI has a video model, has a killer image model, has operator which can complete tasks. So have we maybe hit a plateau on text? I'm not sure. Apparently OpenAI is testing a new model right now which is quote, unquote GPT5. And it's in all of these, like test arenas where it's basically anonymous and it's absolutely dominating. So OpenAI may come out with something that completely dominates Xai and Grok4 very soon. Right now, Grok4 is the winner. It's the top model. How long will that last? That is the question. And when it, when it does get unseated from its throne, which inevitably will happen, I will be the first one to let you know and update you on that. So thank you so much for tuning into the podcast today. I hope this was interesting to kind of hear basically what types of products grow revenue and downloads for these AI companies. If you learned anything new, make sure to leave a comment or rating and review on the podcast. A comment and subscribe. If you're watching this on YouTube where I've been sharing my screen the whole time, breaking down some interesting charts and if you want to try out all the top AI models, I would love for you to try out AI Box AI Our platform is in beta and I've been thrilled by everyone's feedback and suggestions that is testing it out and using it. Right now we're implementing everything. There are some crazy new features coming that will be launching shortly, so I'll tell you about them. But yeah, make sure to go check out the platform. The link is in the description and I will catch you in the next episode.
Podcast Summary: Joe Rogan Experience for AI
Episode: Banking on Grok's AI Companion
Release Date: July 24, 2025
In the episode titled "Banking on Grok's AI Companion," the "Joe Rogan Experience for AI" delves into the recent advancements and market performance of Grok, an AI assistant developed by Xai in collaboration with Elon Musk. The discussion provides a comprehensive analysis of Grok's latest features, particularly the introduction of AI companions and the highly anticipated Grok 4 model. The host examines the financial implications of these developments, exploring how they have influenced Grok's revenue and user base. Additionally, the episode offers broader insights into AI marketing strategies and the importance of model innovation over superficial features.
The episode begins with the host highlighting the recent announcements by Xai and Elon Musk regarding Grok's new functionalities. The introduction of anime-style AI characters and the launch of the Grok 4 model are central to this segment.
The host expresses surprise at the company's trajectory post-announcement, setting the stage for a detailed examination of Grok's performance metrics.
A significant portion of the discussion focuses on the financial boost Grok experienced following the launch of Grok 4 on July 9, 2025. The host provides concrete statistics to illustrate this impact.
Additionally, the app saw a remarkable increase in daily downloads, soaring by 279% to 197,000 from 50,000 within a single day. These numbers underscore the strong market reception of the new model.
Following the success of Grok 4, Xai introduced new AI companions, including anime girlfriends and customizable fuzzy animal characters like Freddy. The host analyzes the financial and user engagement effects of these additions.
Compared to the substantial revenue spike from Grok 4, the introduction of AI companions led to a more modest increase in revenue (9%) and a 40% rise in daily installs. The host concludes that while companions did contribute to growth, the impact was significantly smaller than that of launching a superior AI model.
The discussion shifts to Xai's subscription offerings, particularly the introduction of a premium tier, "Grok Super Grock Heavy," priced at $300 per month. The host compares this with other industry leaders like OpenAI, noting the high cost but questioning the demand for such a premium service.
He contemplates whether the high pricing will be sustainable and highlights the competitive landscape, where even top-tier services like OpenAI charge substantial fees for advanced features.
The host reviews Grok's performance in app rankings, noting its rise to the number three spot overall in the US App Store and maintaining a strong position in the productivity category despite subsequent declines.
He explains that while the rankings have fluctuated, Grok continues to perform well, especially on iOS, where new features are rolled out first, contributing to higher user engagement compared to Android.
Concluding the analysis, the host emphasizes the critical takeaway for AI companies: prioritize developing superior AI models over introducing novel but less impactful features. He commends the Xai team for achieving the top benchmark model in a short timeframe and speculates on the potential challenges from competitors like OpenAI, which is reportedly testing an advanced model dubbed "GPT-5."
He anticipates that while Grok 4 currently leads, the competitive nature of the AI industry means that maintaining this position will require continuous innovation. The possibility of OpenAI releasing a dominant model further underscores the need for ongoing development.
The episode provides a thorough examination of Grok's strategic moves in the AI landscape, highlighting the significant impact of launching a cutting-edge model like Grok 4 over adding new AI companions. Through detailed statistics and insightful commentary, the host underscores the importance of model excellence in driving revenue and user growth. As the AI sector continues to evolve rapidly, the insights shared offer valuable guidance for both industry players and enthusiasts aiming to navigate the competitive terrain.
Notable Quotes:
Host (04:15): “Grok 4 launched on July 9, and by the 11th Grok's gross revenue on iOS jumped by about 325%, reaching $419,000 from $99,000 the day before the launch.”
Host (07:45): “Following all of the AI companions being launched, the downloads and revenue increased, but it was definitely less pronounced.”
Host (11:25): “Grok Super Grock Heavy is $300 a month... I'm curious to see what kind of usage they get, like if more people are using that, they are the best model.”
Host (16:30): “AI companies, we beg you, please focus on making better models and not just gimmicks or new features...”
Additional Resources:
For listeners interested in exploring AI models, the host recommends checking out AI Box AI, a platform offering access to 40 top AI models for $20 a month. Feedback and suggestions are welcomed as the platform continues to develop new features.
End of Summary