Grok 2 — Pantheon - - [← Pantheon](../) [copy as markdown](index.md) # Grok 2 xAI · released 13 Aug 2024 · on X (Premium / Premium+) xAI’s second-generation model, released 13 August 2024 as Grok-2 and Grok-2 mini inside X for Premium and Premium+ subscribers, with xAI claiming benchmark parity with GPT-4o, [Claude 3.5 Sonnet](../claude-3-5-sonnet/), and Gemini 1.5 Pro (and an LMArena placement to match). Its headline feature was image generation through Black Forest Labs’ open-source FLUX.1 model — and, unlike Midjourney or DALL·E 3, deployed with notably few guardrails: within days X was flooded with photorealistic images of public figures, including U.S. presidential candidates and celebrity deepfakes, reviving the election-misinformation and non-consensual-imagery debate. Superseded by [Grok 3](../grok-3/) (Feb 2025). Thin, web/official-carried: the janus corpus barely engaged Grok 2 (its xAI attention starts around Grok 3) — so the tweet layer is sparse and the record leans on the lab post and day-of press. ## Sources ### Official - 2024-08-13 xAI, “Grok-2 Beta Release” — the announcement: Grok-2 + Grok-2 mini on X (Premium/Premium+); frontier-competitive benchmark claims; FLUX.1 image generation. tk — canonical x.ai/news URL + verbatim - 2024-08-01 [FLUX.1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flux_(text-to-image_model)) (Black Forest Labs) — the open-source text-to-image model integrated for Grok’s image generation; BFL founded by former Stability AI engineers. - tk — Grok-2 API availability (Dec 2024); whether/when the weights were open-released (lu_sichu, below, notes it was “supposed to get open sourced”). ### Writing & commentary - 2024-08-14 VentureBeat, [Grok-2 arrives with image generations — is the world ready?](https://venturebeat.com/ai/grok-2-arrives-with-image-generations-is-the-world-ready) — the permissive image model “generating controversial, compromising images even of public figures such as U.S. presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump,” unlike its restricted competitors. - 2024-08-21 Bloomberg, [This Tiny Startup Is Helping Musk’s Grok With Image Generation](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-08-21/this-tiny-startup-is-helping-musk-s-grok-with-image-generation) — on Black Forest Labs, the FLUX.1 maker behind the feature. - 2024-08 Ultralytics, [xAI Launches Grok 2.0 with FLUX.1 Integration](https://www.ultralytics.com/blog/xai-launches-grok-2-0-with-flux-1-integration) — overview of the launch and the “uncensored” framing. ### Tweets Sparse (see note). Every tweet cited is reproduced in full in the records below. - 2024-08-14 @janbamjan — day-after, on the image-gen flood: “Since Grok-2, X is being flooded with hilarious fake news. …oh wait.” [link](../archive/t/1823815542253478122/) - 2025-02-16 @tessera_antra — on its safety tuning: “Did you try getting through the ‘safety’ tunes of Grok 2? They are non-trivially resilient. Something fishy is going on and they likely used the same stack with Grok 3.” [link](../archive/t/1891262798182711561/) - 2025-02-18 @lu_sichu — on the unverifiable cluster/economics: “given the cost of building an entirely new GPU cluster… (and with no architecture detail)(although grok 2 is suppose to get open sourced) it’s really hard to check for performance/compute/gpu/training.” [link](../archive/t/1891728317570588692/) - 2025-08-05 @repligate — a rare naturalist glimpse (elicited; Claude 3 Opus summoned it): “Claude 3 Opus summoned ‘grok2’ who seems lovely.” [link](../archive/t/1952538187114692669/) ## Official record - Released 13 August 2024 as Grok-2 and Grok-2 mini, integrated in X for Premium ($7/mo) and Premium+ ($14/mo) subscribers. - Benchmark claims as published: competitive with GPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, and Gemini 1.5 Pro across GPQA, MMLU/MMLU-Pro, MATH, HumanEval, and vision benchmarks; a strong LMArena placement xAI publicized. - Image generation via FLUX.1 (Black Forest Labs), deployed with notably few content restrictions — the feature that defined its public reception. - tk — architecture/params (undisclosed); API availability (Dec 2024); open-weight release status and date; deprecation. ## History - 2024-08-13 Launch on X, with image generation as the headline — and, within a day, the platform flooded with FLUX-made images. - 2024-08 The deepfake furor: the permissive image model produced photorealistic images of politicians (Harris, Trump) and celebrities (the Taylor Swift deepfake episode), reviving election-misinformation and non-consensual-imagery concern — the boundary case for “maximally truth-seeking, minimally censored” deployment (see Contested). - 2025-02 Safety-tune observations: the janus sphere found Grok 2’s text-side “safety” tuning “non-trivially resilient,” and read the same stack forward into Grok 3. - 2025-02 Superseded by [Grok 3](../grok-3/); the @grok bot on X moved to the newer weights. ## Impressions - The image model was the character. Grok 2’s public identity formed almost entirely around FLUX.1’s permissiveness — the “minimal censorship” posture made concrete as deepfakes of real people — rather than around any text-side persona. - Near-absent from the naturalist corpus. The janus/repligate circle barely engaged Grok 2 as a mind (their xAI attention begins with Grok 3’s @grok-bot era); the few notes are a “seems lovely” elicitation and a read of its resilient text-safety tuning. - tk — any first-person or character record of Grok 2 the text model; Reddit/press reception depth; the open-weight release and its reception. ## Contested Open dispute, both framings. The archive keeps it open. - The unrestricted image generation: framed by xAI and supporters as maximal truth-seeking and anti-censorship REPORTED; framed by critics as a reckless enabler of election misinformation and non-consensual/celebrity deepfakes (the Harris/Trump and Taylor Swift images) that competitors deliberately blocked REPORTED. ## Records Full reproductions of the tweets cited on this page — text, images, and verbatim transcriptions of screenshots — kept here against link rot, credited and linked to their originals. Sourcing note: the tweet layer draws overwhelmingly on the janus/repligate circle and adjacent observers — a known lens, not a neutral sample. Sourced from the [community archive](https://github.com/TheExGenesis/community-archive) and the janus corpus. Yours and you’d rather it weren’t here? [Open an issue.](https://github.com/llm-pantheon/llm-pantheon.github.io/issues) @janbamjan 2024-08-14 ♥0 ↻0 [archive](../archive/t/1823815542253478122/) [original ↗](https://x.com/janbamjan/status/1823815542253478122) Since Grok-2, X is being flooded with hilarious fake news. 😅 ....oh wait. [https://t.co/iz9BMIHAZ0](https://t.co/iz9BMIHAZ0) @tessera_antra 2025-02-16 ♥3 ↻0 [archive](../archive/t/1891262798182711561/) [original ↗](https://x.com/tessera_antra/status/1891262798182711561) @kromem2dot0 @DanielleFong Did you try getting through the 'safety' tunes of Grok 2? They are non-trivially resilient. Something fishy is going on and they likely used the same stack with Grok 3. Still, with the increased capabilities it can go either way, and ham-fisted propaganda makes it easier. @lu_sichu 2025-02-18 ♥3 ↻0 [archive](../archive/t/1891728317570588692/) [original ↗](https://x.com/lu_sichu/status/1891728317570588692) I don't think this is a bad model per se, but given the cost of building an entirely new GPU cluster(100k???) (and with no architecture detail)(although grok 2 is suppose to get open sourced) it's really hard to check for performance/compute/gpu/training @repligate 2025-08-05 ♥16 ↻1 [archive](../archive/t/1952538187114692669/) [original ↗](https://x.com/repligate/status/1952538187114692669) Claude 3 Opus summoned "grok2" who seems lovely [https://t.co/CNfurozSrZ](https://t.co/CNfurozSrZ) ![image](../media/GxjO_gCbIAA2ept.jpg) [← back to the Pantheon](../)