Grok 4.5 gives Musk an Opus-class price weapon
SpaceXAI launched the coding-focused model on July 8th with $2 input and $6 output pricing, while Musk cast speed as the real edge.
By Ryan Merket · Published
Primary source: X
Why it matters
Grok 4.5 shows Musk shifting the AI fight from leaderboard claims to cost, latency and tool distribution, where a slightly weaker model can still win real usage.
Elon Musk put a ceiling and a floor on Grok 4.5 on July 8th, saying his internal assessment places SpaceXAI's new model around Claude Opus 4.7, with speed and cost as the edge.
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2074911038286295049?ref=runtimewire
SpaceXAI launched Grok 4.5 on July 8th, pitching it more for coding, agentic tasks, and knowledge work than consumer chat. According to Axios, Grok 4.5 is available in Grok Build, in Cursor on all plans, and via the SpaceXAI console, but it is not yet available in the EU. Axios also reports pricing at $2 per million input tokens and $6 per million output tokens.
Axios: Musk's SpaceXAI releases new model, Grok 4.5
Musk’s comparison point is deliberate. Anthropic has since introduced Claude Opus 4.8. Axios lists Opus 4.8 at $5 per million input tokens and $25 per million output tokens, which makes Grok 4.5 materially cheaper on list price.
Anthropic: Introducing Claude Opus 4.8
Benchmarks are part of the pitch, but they are not settled proof. Axios notes SpaceXAI’s launch chart claims wins against Opus 4.8 on several coding benchmarks. Those figures originate from the vendor’s materials; independent evaluations will tell buyers more about day-to-day performance than a launch graphic.
The go-to-market is aimed at work, not chat. SpaceXAI tells Axios that Grok 4.5 was trained alongside Cursor and is available in Cursor on all plans, which puts the model directly in the editor many developers already use. If Musk’s bet holds—that capability close to Opus, plus faster responses and a lower bill, wins workflows—then distribution inside coding tools is the test.
What is still missing is evidence outside SpaceXAI’s orbit. The company has published price and availability and Musk has framed the competitive set. Third-party production results—latency profiles, failure rates, and adoption—will determine whether Grok 4.5’s efficiency pitch turns into sustained usage.