X Launches Stories with Grok AI Personalized News Summaries

Updated: May 04 2024 18:11

In a significant move towards integrating AI into its platform, X (formerly Twitter) has introduced a new feature called Stories, which provides personalized news summaries powered by Elon Musk's AI chatbot, Grok AI. The Stories feature is currently being rolled out to Premium X subscribers. Access to Premium starts at $8 per month when paying through the web, with slightly higher prices for those subscribing through app stores.

👀 Now available: Stories on X, powered by Grok AI 👀

See what the world is talking about with Stories on X, curated by @grok. now available for Premium subscribers in the Explore tab!

web & iOS only for now-- let us know your feedback pic.twitter.com/Iv6zk9WugU

— Engineering (@XEng) May 3, 2024

The Stories feature is designed to enhance the user experience by providing concise summaries of trending news and topics on X. When users navigate to the For You tab in the Explore section, they will find a curated list of popular stories within their network. By tapping on a specific story, users can view the associated X posts, along with a Grok-generated summary at the top of the page. These summaries offer a quick overview of the subject matter, allowing users to grasp the essence of the story without having to read through numerous posts. See below a screenshot posted by X/Twitter user Min Choi (@minchoi):

Love this feature 😍 pic.twitter.com/z5GGxtAQsY

— Min Choi (@minchoi) May 3, 2024

Grok, developed by xAI, is an AI chatbot known for its exclusive access to real-time X data and its snarky, rebellious personality. Unlike other AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Grok's summaries are based solely on the conversations happening on X, rather than the actual text of the articles being discussed. This approach has been deemed controversial by some, as the opinions and reactions shared on X may not always accurately represent the news itself.

These Grok AI limitations are pretty much like any other AI model, however, its focus on real-time knowledge, interpretational abilities, and open-source development makes it an exciting prospect for the future of research and knowledge exploration. Here are some of its key features that make Grok stand out:

1. Real-Time Knowledge Access: Grok isn't limited to pre-programmed information. It leverages the xAI platform to access real-time data and knowledge, making its responses truly up-to-date and relevant.


2. Powerful Research Assistant: Grok is built to be your research companion. It can quickly find information, process data, and even generate new ideas based on your prompts.


3. Witty and Rebellious Persona: Unlike the monotone assistants we're used to, Grok is modeled after the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Expect witty and sometimes even rebellious responses, adding a touch of personality to your interactions.


4. Interpretational Abilities: Grok goes beyond simply processing data. It aims to understand complex patterns and relationships within the information, leading to more accurate insights and predictions.


5. Open-Source Future: X plans to open-source Grok, allowing the AI community to contribute to its development. This transparency fosters collaboration and promises faster advancements.

The introduction of AI-powered news summaries has raised concerns among journalists and news publishers. As users become increasingly reliant on concise summaries, there is a risk that traffic to news sites may decrease, potentially leading to the closure of some outlets. To mitigate this issue, some news publishers have entered into partnerships with AI providers like OpenAI to ensure their content remains accessible and relevant in the age of AI-generated summaries.


xAI recently announced its new multimodal model, Grok-1.5V (Grok-1.5 Vision Preview), which represents a major step forward in the development of truly intelligent systems. Grok-1.5V goes beyond text understanding to integrate vision capabilities, allowing it to understand documents, diagrams, charts, photos, and more.

According to xAI, Grok-1.5V outperforms leading competitors on key benchmarks. It excelled on xAI's RealWorldQA dataset, an evaluation of over 700 real-world images paired with questions. This dataset evaluates an AI's ability to understand complex visual scenarios and measures progress toward general intelligence.


Grok-1.5V's multifaceted perception was demonstrated through examples such as transforming a child's drawing into a bedtime story. It also explained memes, converted tables to CSV format, and diagnosed problems with wood decking based on images alone. xAI believes that such diverse tasks demonstrate Grok-1.5V's potential for a wide range of applications.

User: My son drew this, can you tell a short bedtime story based on his drawing?

Grok: Once upon a time, in a land of adventure and wonder, there was a brave little boy named Timmy. Timmy lived in a cozy little house with his family, and he loved nothing more than exploring the world around him.

One sunny day, Timmy decided to go on an adventure in the nearby forest. He packed his favorite snacks, a compass, and his trusty notebook to draw all the exciting things he would see.

As Timmy ventured deeper into the forest, he discovered a magical river that sparkled in the sunlight. The river was so enchanting that Timmy decided to build a small paper boat to send down the river as a special message to the forest spirits.

Timmy carefully folded his paper boat and drew a smiley face on it to bring joy to the forest spirits. He then placed the boat on the river and watched as it floated away, carrying his message of friendship and love for nature.

As the sun began to set, Timmy knew it was time to head back home. He felt grateful for the magical day he had spent in the forest, and he knew that he would always carry the memories of his adventure in his heart.

Back at home, Timmy shared his story with his family, who were delighted to hear about his magical day in the forest. They all agreed that Timmy’s brave and kind spirit was a true inspiration, and they knew that he would continue to have many more wonderful adventures in the future.

And so, with a heart full of love and a mind full of dreams, Timmy drifted off to sleep, eager to discover what new adventures awaited him in the world of his imagination.

Elon Musk's vision for AI-powered news on X extends beyond the Stories feature. According to tech journalist Alex Kantrowitz, who had an email conversation with Musk, “As more information becomes available, the news summary will update to include that information. The goal is simple: to provide maximally accurate and timely information, citing the most significant sources.”

Musk’s emails demonstrate that he still views news as a core X capacity. It’s a potential competitive advantage as competitors like Meta’s Threads distance themselves from news. While this approach may pique users' curiosity and encourage them to delve deeper into the source material, it also raises concerns about the potential spread of misinformation, as the summaries may not always accurately reflect the original news content.

X's introduction of the Stories feature, powered by Grok AI, marks a significant step towards the integration of artificial intelligence in the realm of news consumption. While the personalized summaries offer users a convenient way to stay informed, the reliance on X conversations as the primary source for these summaries raises questions about accuracy and the potential impact on traditional news publishers. As AI continues to shape the way we consume information, it is crucial for both users and content creators to remain vigilant and adaptable in this rapidly evolving landscape.