Elon Musk has confirmed that Grok 3, the newest version of his tech company xAI's generative artificial intelligence chatbot, will be released in about six months.
Mr Musk also said on his platform X that xAI has open‑sourced its current AI chatbot Grok 2.5.
Open‑sourcing makes both the model’s code and its weights freely available to developers and researchers worldwide. This move allows external parties to study its architecture, test its safety, and build new applications.
Supporters argue it promotes transparency and levels the playing field, particularly for smaller companies and academic institutions.
Critics, however, caution that making advanced AI systems easily accessible could increase the risks of misuse.
Grok 3
Unveiled in February 2025, Grok 3 was described by Mr Musk as an “order of magnitude more capable than Grok 2” in a live-stream on X. He also claimed it would be the "smartest AI on Earth".
During the event, xAI showcased Grok 3 solving a physics problem and creating a game that combined elements of Bejeweled and Tetris.
The API, which includes a reasoning component and DeepSearch capabilities, is set to launch in the coming weeks.
Grok 3 is powered by xAI’s Colossus supercomputer, delivering about 10 times the computing power of its predecessor and outperforming leading systems in reasoning across maths, science, and code‑generation tasks.
What’s next in the AI race?
By committing to an open-source timeline for Grok 3, xAI is positioning itself as a challenger to industry leaders such as OpenAI, Google and Anthropic.
The strategy seeks to make powerful AI tools more transparent, with the idea that it will be attractive to developers, start-ups and research institutions.
In a separate post on X, Mr Musk said xAI would “soon be far beyond any company besides Google, then significantly exceed Google”, while noting that “companies in China will be the toughest” competitors.
Ultimately, the impact of this move will hinge on user adoption and regulatory responses.
As open models gain traction, governments and watchdogs may intensify scrutiny to manage the balance between innovation and safety.
xAI was founded by Mr Musk in 2023 with the mission of “understanding the true nature of the universe".
Its flagship product, Grok, began as a chatbot integrated with X and has evolved through multiple versions. The company last month also unveiled the Grok 4, claiming it to be the "most intelligent model in the world". It includes real-time search integration, and is available to Premium+ subscribers, as well as through the xAI API.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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