Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI is developing a sophisticated research tool called “DeepSearch” that could directly compete with similar offerings from OpenAI and Google, according to four current and former employees who spoke with Business Insider.
The DeepSearch project has been in development since at least late last year, with data annotators working to train Grok, xAI’s large language model, to perform complex multistep research tasks similar to how humans conduct research. The training process involves workers using specialized tools to track their internet searches, teaching the AI model natural search patterns and reasoning skills.
Unlike typical AI training tasks that take three to ten minutes, DeepSearch project workers are expected to spend significantly longer periods on their assignments, reflecting the complexity of the research capabilities being developed. However, the current stage of development remains unclear, and xAI has not confirmed whether DeepSearch will be publicly released. XAI spokespeople did not respond to requests for comment.
The tool appears designed to compete directly with similar products from AI industry leaders. Google launched its “Deep Research” feature for Gemini Advanced subscribers in December 2024, positioning it as an AI research assistant capable of multistep research that mimics human research skills while completing tasks in minutes that would take humans much longer. OpenAI followed suit on February 2, 2025, launching its own “deep research” feature that gathers internet data to generate comprehensive reports for complex investigations, following humanlike reasoning patterns with citations and follow-up questions.
Currently, the publicly available version of Grok can perform basic factual research and provides citation links to sources. XAI has been aggressively expanding its workforce in recent months, planning to hire thousands of AI tutors, including specialists in STEM fields and legal affairs, as previously reported by Business Insider.
Since Grok’s initial release in November 2023, xAI has continuously enhanced the chatbot with new capabilities, including image generation and link citations. The company also released a standalone Grok app in January 2025. On Thursday, Musk announced that xAI is close to releasing the latest version of Grok, claiming it “has very powerful reasoning capabilities” and is “outperforming anything that’s been released that we’re aware of.”
This development represents xAI’s continued push to establish itself as a major player in the competitive AI landscape, directly challenging established leaders OpenAI and Google in the advanced research capabilities space.
Key Quotes
has very powerful reasoning capabilities
Elon Musk made this statement on Thursday regarding the upcoming version of Grok, suggesting xAI’s latest model will have significantly enhanced capabilities that he claims are superior to competing AI systems currently available.
outperforming anything that’s been released that we’re aware of
Musk’s bold claim positions xAI’s forthcoming Grok update as a potential industry leader, directly challenging the dominance of OpenAI and Google in the AI research assistant space and signaling xAI’s competitive ambitions.
Our Take
XAI’s DeepSearch development signals an intensifying arms race in AI-powered research capabilities, with major players converging on similar solutions almost simultaneously. The timing is particularly notable—Google launched in December 2024, OpenAI in February 2025, and now xAI is developing its own version. This pattern suggests that advanced research capabilities represent the next critical battleground in AI competition. The emphasis on training AI models to mimic human research patterns through extended task completion times indicates a shift toward more sophisticated, reasoning-based AI systems rather than quick-response chatbots. Musk’s aggressive hiring strategy and bold performance claims suggest xAI is positioning itself as a serious challenger to established players, potentially leveraging its access to X (formerly Twitter) data and computational resources to differentiate its offering.
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Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/xai-deepsearch-google-gemini-openai-2025-2