In a significant move during its annual Build conference, Microsoft revealed a new partnership with Elon Musk’s AI venture, xAI, to integrate its controversial chatbot Grok into the Azure cloud platform. The decision comes on the heels of public criticism over Grok’s recent politically charged and misleading responses, which prompted concerns over the bot’s trustworthiness.
Grok, developed by xAI, will now operate within Microsoft’s Azure AI Foundry—a hub that already supports models from AI leaders like OpenAI, Meta, and Stability AI. The alliance seeks to improve Grok’s reliability and address past controversies by increasing model transparency and grounding outputs in factual accuracy.
Also Read: Microsoft Achieves A Historic $3 Trillion Valuation
Elon Musk emphasized the importance of AI models being “grounded in reality” during a recorded conversation with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Acknowledging past missteps, Musk promised that xAI would remain transparent about any errors. The company has also introduced internal reforms, such as disclosing system prompts and implementing a dedicated monitoring team.
Observers interpreted Musk’s remarks as a subtle critique of OpenAI, the organization he co-founded and later exited, which has faced criticism for lack of openness. Meanwhile, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman joined the conference remotely, discussing advancements in AI development, including GitHub Copilot, which now serves over 15 million users.
The partnership between Microsoft and xAI highlights the tech giant’s strategic push to diversify its AI model offerings amid global layoffs, as reports indicate Microsoft has recently cut around 6,000 jobs globally.
