Microsoft could bring Elon Musk’s Grok AI model to Azure — Cozying up with OpenAI’s arch-nemesis xAI for its AI Foundry

It seems last year there were indications that the bond between Microsoft and OpenAI might be weakening. There were rumors that Microsoft was considering incorporating AI models from other sources into their Microsoft 365 Copilot service, which could indicate a shift away from relying heavily on OpenAI’s primary models, such as ChatGPT.

According to a different report by The Information, it’s been suggested that Microsoft is working on building their own AI models and also trying out models from other companies for its Copilot project. These external models include DeepSeek, Meta, and xAI, which was developed by Elon Musk.

Currently, The Verge is sharing news that Microsoft may soon welcome Elon Musk’s Grok AI model. As reported by their sources, Microsoft has recently held talks with xAI over the possibility of hosting this model during the last few weeks.

Should the agreement be finalized, Microsoft will facilitate Grok AI, granting access to a wide range of users. Moreover, they will provide the model to their internal product teams through their Azure cloud platform.

From my perspective, while neither Microsoft nor xAI have confirmed a deal publicly, The Verge hints that Grok AI might soon become accessible within Microsoft’s Azure AI Foundry platform.

In simpler terms, Azure AI Foundry serves as a creative workspace for programmers. It provides them with various AI tools and models, enabling them to host, operate, and supervise applications driven by artificial intelligence.

As per the report, Microsoft intends to merely accommodate xAI’s Grok model. In other words, they don’t envision setting up servers to train any of their forthcoming AI models on their platform.

It’s worth mentioning that Sam Altman from OpenAI and Elon Musk share an intriguing past. Initially, Musk played a role in helping Altman establish OpenAI. However, their close bond (often referred to as a ‘bromance’) didn’t last long, eventually transforming into a heated disagreement.

In recent times, Elon Musk has brought forward two legal actions against OpenAI and its head, Sam Altman. He claims these actions are due to a severe breach of ChatGPT’s original purpose as defined by the company’s founding mission. The second lawsuit alleges that they were involved in underhanded activities like racketeering and falsely promoting a supposed humanitarian initiative.

Billionaire Musk has also contested OpenAI’s evolution into a for-profit entity.

It appears that OpenAI is determined to shift towards becoming a profit-driven enterprise, possibly due to the increasing demand from investors following their recent fundraising round, which brought in an impressive $40 billion, thus elevating its market value to a staggering $300 billion.

Not reaching this benchmark might leave the AI company vulnerable to outside intrusion and potential buyouts by unwanted parties. Financial experts and analysts anticipate that within the next three years, Microsoft could possibly acquire OpenAI.

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2025-05-02 11:09