In a rare public endorsement between competing tech giants, Google CEO Sundar Pichai has commended Elon Musk's AI venture, xAI, and its latest large language model, Grok 4, calling it “impressive progress.” The acknowledgment came in response to a demo video shared by Musk on X (formerly Twitter), showcasing Grok 4’s capabilities in interpreting code, explaining visual data, and producing contextual responses in real-time.
The exchange sparked widespread interest in the tech community, with many noting the significance of a top Google executive recognizing innovation from a potential rival in the AI space.
What Prompted the Praise?
Musk had shared a 4-minute video that highlighted Grok 4’s evolving multimodal abilities—ranging from understanding Python code to interpreting images and assisting with creative writing. The demo illustrated Grok’s progress toward achieving human-like reasoning, suggesting its alignment with xAI’s long-term vision of developing artificial general intelligence (AGI).
Responding to the clip, Pichai wrote: “Impressive progress,” on X, keeping his comment brief but significant. The Google CEO’s remark comes as Grok continues to be positioned as a competitor to Google's Gemini, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, and Anthropic’s Claude in the LLM race.
Musk Responds to the Compliment
Elon Musk, who is known for his direct and sometimes contentious remarks, responded to Pichai’s praise with a simple, “Thanks Sundar.” The civil tone of the interaction was noted by users and analysts alike, especially given Musk’s previous criticism of Google and OpenAI’s AI efforts.
Musk had co-founded OpenAI in 2015 but left the organization in 2018 over differences in direction. Since then, he has advocated for open-source AI development and transparency in model training—principles that xAI claims to uphold.
About Grok 4: xAI’s Most Advanced Model Yet
Launched recently, Grok 4 is touted as xAI’s most powerful version so far, with multimodal capabilities and integration across various X (Twitter) products. The model is part of Musk’s effort to build an AI alternative that is “maximum truth-seeking,” designed to engage in nuanced conversations without political bias or moderation filters.
According to reports, Grok 4 is trained using X’s vast real-time data and can process text, images, and even perform basic visual analytics. The AI chatbot is now being rolled out to premium subscribers on the X platform and is expected to power several back-end tools for creators and advertisers.
Implications for the AI Landscape
Pichai’s acknowledgment reflects the competitive yet collaborative nature of the AI industry, where even rival CEOs occasionally recognize groundbreaking developments. It also underscores the increasing convergence between big tech companies, each racing to dominate AI innovation, particularly in generative and multimodal models.
Experts suggest that such public exchanges could signal a softening in the competitive rhetoric or even pave the way for more transparency and cross-validation of AI research. While Google continues to enhance its Gemini models, Meta is pushing forward with its LLaMA series, and OpenAI remains focused on GPT-4o and beyond.
The Internet Reacts
As expected, the internet responded with a flurry of memes, opinions, and breakdowns. Some users joked about a possible “AI bromance,” while others speculated whether Grok’s performance could genuinely challenge the existing dominance of Gemini or ChatGPT.
Regardless of interpretation, the mutual respect shared between Pichai and Musk adds a layer of credibility to Grok 4’s capabilities and signals a broader shift in how AI breakthroughs are acknowledged across the tech landscape.