Grok 4.5: Cheaper, Faster AI Workhorse

SpaceXAI just dropped Grok 4.5, its first model since going public. It’s being pitched as a versatile workhorse for coding, research, and office tasks, with a big selling point: twice the token efficiency of rivals. That means lower costs, which is huge as token prices become a pain point for AI users. Benchmark results show it’s competitive, just shy of top-tier, but founder Elon Musk claims it rivals Anthropic’s Opus 4.7 on capability while being faster and cheaper. Pricing is aggressive too—$2 per million input tokens versus Opus’s $5 or OpenAI’s $5 for its premium model. With OpenAI set to release GPT 5.6 tomorrow, this is a big week for AI. Why it matters: Grok 4.5’s cost efficiency could pressure competitors to slash prices, potentially democratizing access to powerful AI for smaller businesses and developers.