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Grok Bot usage meters maxed out overnight, and Musk and support don't agree on why

Paying subscribers woke up to maxed-out usage meters. Elon Musk pointed to costs. Support told one subscriber it was a fixed system issue. Some users say their usage is still burning fast.

By Brandon Cole · Nov 3, 2026, 9:25 AM EST

Why it matters: Grok Bot is a fast-growing paid product for SpaceX, and Musk says the cost of serving it was unsustainably high relative to revenue, so subscribers may be paying for less.

For information only, not investment advice.

Over Halloween weekend, Grok Bot subscribers checked their weekly usage meters and found them maxed out, days before the reset. Some users reported on X that their usage jumped from as low as 50% to 100%, TechCrunch reported. Others told of jumps from 35% to 78% and from 70% to 100%. They said all of it happened while they weren't using Grok Bot at all, according to TechRadar.

Then the explanations started, and they don't agree.

Musk: it cost too much

On Sunday, Nov. 1, a user asked Elon Musk for a reset, saying lots of people's usage had run out fast. Musk replied:

The cost of serving Grok Bot was unsustainably high relative to revenue

When another user said they'd have to wait until Wednesday, Musk asked: "Upgrade to higher usage plan cost increase is too high?"

His posts didn't say how much Grok Bot costs to run or whether the company had lowered subscribers' usage limits, Forbes noted. TechCrunch read it as Musk confirming "this was not a glitch."

Support: possibly a system issue, now fixed

The next day, Monday, Nov. 2, one affected subscriber got an email from "Sam from Cursor," signed "SpaceXSI's SI Support Agent." The reply, seen by this publication, read in full:

Hey there!

It's possible you were running into an issue in our system that has now been fixed. Your limits should be back to what they were before the issue.

We apologize for our lack of proactive communication. Usage limits are adjusted from time to time, and we're committed to being better at letting our customers know ahead of time.

If anything still looks off with your usage, just reply here.

The subscriber wrote back that they were cutting their losses. In their telling, the problem wasn't their fault, they had lost days of use, and an apology was all they got. They called it brutal.

There was a real incident. Cursor reported a billing and usage dashboard problem on Sunday that was later marked resolved, Forbes reported. It is not clear whether that problem caused the jumps, The Next Web added.

Users: it's still draining

On X, some subscribers say the fix didn't stick. These are their own claims.

"My usage is still draining like crazy. I can see the percent sign go up in real time," one user posted late Sunday night.

"Man, got my @grok @bot usage back to 62% down from 100% after that “glitch”, but now it’s burning through credits so fast! 😩" another wrote on Monday night.

Others say their usage came back. "grok bot usage is restored! life is good again," one posted.

Some are walking. One subscriber said on X that he is dropping a $300-a-month plan after his meter went from 50% to 100% overnight, TeslaNorth reported. A Reddit thread called the change an "indirect rug pull," per TechRadar.

Why it stings

Grok Bot isn't a side project. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said it had 800,000 paid weekly users in early October, Forbes reported. Plans run from free to $200 a month, each with weekly limits, according to Business Insider.

Musk hasn't shared how subscribers' limits will change from here, TechCrunch reported. Neither Musk nor xAI has said in a formal release whether affected subscribers will get a reset, a refund or a clearer usage readout, according to TeslaNorth.

Support's own email says limits are "adjusted from time to time." Subscribers are asking for the same thing: to be told when that happens, and to what.

Tags: ai · big-tech