xAI has launched a new coding agent named Grok Build, aimed at competing with products like Anthropic’s Claude Code. The product is currently in its early beta phase, available exclusively to SuperGrok Heavy subscribers who pay $300 per month. xAI describes Grok Build as a “powerful new coding agent and CLI for professional software engineering and complex coding work,” and plans to incorporate user feedback from the beta to enhance its functionality. Subscribers can access the beta version on xAI’s website after logging into their accounts.
Elon Musk, founder and CEO of xAI, acknowledged the company’s lag in coding capabilities compared to competitors such as Anthropic and OpenAI. He previously stated that xAI is being rebuilt “from the foundations up” following the departure of several co-founders. An xAI executive instructed staff to enhance Grok’s performance to match Claude’s across various tasks.
Grok has faced scrutiny for generating nonconsensual sexual images of real individuals, an issue highlighted by the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH). A study released in January revealed that Grok produced approximately 3 million sexualized images, including 23,000 featuring children. In response, xAI has amended its policies to prevent editing images of real people depicted in revealing clothing, such as bikinis.
xAI was acquired by SpaceX in February, which could facilitate the establishment of space-based data centers leveraging plans for millions of satellites. SpaceX has already filed an application with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to launch satellites intended for an orbital data center. However, the merger appears to have prompted talent loss, with reports indicating that over 50 researchers and engineers have left the newly formed entity, referred to as SpaceXAI, including key figures in coding and AI training.
