---
answer: direct
beat: ai-technology
source: 1 article · updated: July 8, 2026
---

Did Grok 4.5 actually beat Claude Opus in independent testing?

Not outright. Grok 4.5 ranked fourth on the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index — ahead of every open-weight model and all Gemini models — but still behind the top proprietary tier, even as Elon Musk called it an 'Opus-class model, but faster, more token-efficient and lower cost.'

Answered in

Grok 4.5 Ships, xAI Calls It Opus-Class at a Third of the Price

xAI's Grok 4.5 prices coding at $2/$6 per million tokens, undercutting the $5/$25 Musk quoted for Opus 4.7 — but the AA Index ranks it behind Opus 4.8.

Crashtech Editorial July 8, 2026 How AI Actually Works

Read the full analysis

Other questions this article answers

More how ai actually works questions

Every answer on Crashtech is written by the editor of the article it comes from — never auto-summarised. Browse all answers or the How AI Actually Works beat.