Elon Musk throttles Grok Bot limits due to ‘unsustainably high’ costs

Over the recent Halloween weekend, users of Grok Bot, SpaceX's agentic AI, encountered an unexpected issue: their weekly usage limits were suddenly maxed out. This occurred even for those who had not actively used the AI service overnight. Reports circulated on X, detailing instances where some users' limits abruptly jumped from as low as 50% to a full 100% utilization. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk subsequently confirmed on Sunday, November 1, 2026, via an X post, that these changes were not a glitch. He clarified in a reply to a user's question, stating, "The cost of serving Grok Bot was unsustainably high relative to revenue."

Despite these operational adjustments, Grok Bot is positioned as a significant success for the newly public SpaceX. A company filing from last month indicated that artificial intelligence operations now account for 52% of the company's total income. Furthermore, SpaceX's renamed "Super Intelligence" division achieved a profit of $431 million, a financial outcome noted as a rarity within the broader AI industry. This division's profit, however, would have been higher were it not for $1.2 billion in one-time costs directly associated with its acquisition of Cursor.

Elon Musk himself recently lauded Grok Bot, describing its expansion as having “the fastest growth of a product that I’ve ever seen in my life.” While Musk has not publicly addressed the specific usage limit issue on his main X feed, he has continued to promote Grok Bot's capabilities, including its potential to assist users in buying gifts for their family. As of now, Musk has not provided any further public details regarding how subscribers’ usage limits will be managed or impacted in the future.

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