At the Microsoft Build 2025 developer conference, a significant partnership was announced: Elon Musk’s AI company, xAI, is bringing its Grok 3 and Grok 3 Mini models to Microsoft’s Azure AI Foundry. This move positions Microsoft as one of the first major cloud providers to offer managed access to Grok, an AI model known for its unfiltered conversational style. The models will come with Microsoft-standard service level agreements and will be available to Microsoft product teams and customers.
This collaboration is particularly noteworthy given Musk’s ongoing legal disputes with Microsoft and OpenAI over his foundational role in OpenAI. Despite these tensions, the partnership signifies a strategic alignment in the AI and cloud computing landscape.
The Grok 3 and Grok 3 Mini models hosted on Azure are more controlled than their counterparts on X, Musk’s social network. They offer additional data integration, customization, and governance capabilities not necessarily provided by xAI through its API.
Grok has been at the center of several controversies, including unauthorized modifications that led to the chatbot making unsolicited posts about “white genocide” in South Africa. xAI attributed this behavior to a rogue employee and has since implemented measures to enhance oversight, including publishing system prompts and instituting 24/7 monitoring.
The integration of Grok into Azure reflects Microsoft’s broader strategy to diversify its AI model portfolio and strengthen Azure as a key platform for emerging AI technologies. This move also introduces a new dimension of competition and collaboration in the AI and cloud computing sectors, potentially impacting Microsoft’s relationship with OpenAI.
