xAI (SpaceXAI) has released Grok 4.5 — an Opus-class AI model priced at just $2/1M input tokens. Compared to Fable 5 ($10/$50) and GPT-5.5 ($5/$30), Grok 4.5 is drastically cheaper while trailing only slightly on benchmarks.

SpaceXAI Releases Grok 4.5 — An 'Opus-Class' AI Model at Drastically Cheaper Prices

Published: July 8, 2026 | Sources: TechCrunch, The Decoder

🚀 Introduction: A New Reality for the AI Market

The summer of 2026 is shaping up to be one of the most dramatic periods in the AI industry. On July 8, Elon Musk's xAI (SpaceXAI) officially released Grok 4.5 — a model Musk himself describes as Opus-class. But the real headline is the pricing: Grok 4.5 costs just $2 per million input tokens and $6 per million output tokens.

For context: Anthropic's Fable 5 is priced at $10/$50, while OpenAI's GPT-5.5 costs $5/$30. This makes Grok 4.5 5x cheaper than Fable 5 and 2.5x cheaper than GPT-5.5.

🔬 Technical Details & Training

Grok 4.5 was trained on tens of thousands of Nvidia GB300 GPUs. The GB300 is Nvidia's latest-generation graphics processor, purpose-built for training large language models (LLMs).

Although xAI has not disclosed the model's exact size, the company claims Grok 4.5 uses 4.2x fewer tokens than Opus 4.8 on SWE Bench Pro.

📊 Benchmark Comparison

Benchmark	Grok 4.5	GPT-5.5	Fable 5
Terminal Bench 2.1	83.3%	83.4%	84.3%
DeepSWE 1.1	53%	67%	70%

On Terminal Bench 2.1, Grok 4.5 scored 83.3% — practically neck-and-neck with GPT-5.5's 83.4%.

However, on DeepSWE 1.1, Grok 4.5 trails at 53%, compared to GPT-5.5's 67% and Fable 5's 70%.

💰 Pricing Comparison

Grok 4.5 costs $2 per million input tokens and $6 per million output tokens. That's already far below the competition. Opus 4.8 runs $5 input and $25 output. Fable 5 charges $10 input and $50 output.

🛠️ Availability & Integrations

Grok 4.5 is available through Grok Build, Cursor (acquired by xAI for $60B), xAI Console, and Microsoft Office plugins (Word, PowerPoint, Excel).

One limitation: Grok 4.5 is not yet available in the European Union, with a mid-July launch targeted.

📈 Market Impact

With Grok 4.5, xAI is sending a clear signal: the AI price war has officially begun. Expected: OpenAI and Anthropic will cut prices, AI democratization accelerates, new use cases emerge.

The Decoder's analysis: Grok 4.5 is so cheap compared to Fable 5 and GPT 5.5 that benchmark gaps may not matter much.

💡 Conclusion

Grok 4.5 marks a significant milestone in the evolution of the AI industry. It demonstrates that high-quality AI no longer has to be expensive.