Microsoft Prepares to Host Elon Musk's Grok AI on Azure, Signaling Shift in AI Alliances

Microsoft is getting ready to host Elon Musk's Grok AI model

Tom Warren is a senior editor and author of Notepad, who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. Microsoft has been instructing engineers working on its AI infrastructure to get ready to host Elon Musk's Grok AI model, according to a trusted source familiar with the plans. In recent weeks Microsoft has been in discussions with xAI to host the Grok AI model and make it available to customers and Microsoft's own product teams through the Azure cloud service. The move could prove controversial internally and further inflame tensions with Microsoft's partner OpenAI. I'm told that if the deal proceeds, Grok will be available on Azure AI Foundry, Microsoft's AI development platform that gives developers access to AI services, tools, and pre-built models in order to build AI applications and agents. This will allow developers to tap into Grok and use it within their apps, and for Microsoft to potentially use the AI model across its own apps and services. Microsoft refused to comment for this story. Microsoft has been steadily growing its Azure AI Foundry business over the past year, and has been quick to embrace models from a variety of AI labs that compete with Microsoft's partner OpenAI. DeepSeek, the Chinese startup that shook up the world of AI earlier this year, forced Microsoft to move quickly to embrace its supercheap R1 model. The DeepSeek deployment on Azure AI Foundry was unusually fast for Microsoft, as I reported previously in Notepad, with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella moving with haste to get engineers to test and deploy R1 in a matter of days. I understand Nadella has been pushing for Microsoft to host Grok, as he's eager for Microsoft to be seen as the hosting provider for any popular or emerging AI models. Microsoft's Azure AI teams are constantly having to onboard new models or procure hardware that unlocks even more AI capabilities, in Microsoft's bid to build an AI platform and turn AI agents into a digital workforce. "All of the systems that we've built for 50 years need to apply to AI agents," said Asha Sharma, corporate vice president of Microsoft's AI platform, in an interview with The Verge last month. "For Azure AI Foundry we're thinking about how we evolve to become the operating system on the backend of every single agent." Making Grok available to developers through Azure is part of Microsoft's goal to become that important infrastructure and platform behind AI models and AI agents, but it doesn't mean AI labs are turning to Microsoft for their AI model training needs. xAI chief Elon Musk reportedly canceled a potential $10 billion server deal with Oracle last year, and posted on X at the time that xAI would be moving to train its future models "internally" instead of relying on Oracle servers. It's not clear if Microsoft will secure an exclusive deal on hosting the Grok AI model, or whether competitors like Amazon will also be able to host the model. I understand that Microsoft is looking at only providing capacity to host the Grok model, and not the servers for training future models. Microsoft's move to host Musk's Grok AI model could create some tension internally at the company, particularly given his involvement in the controversial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) project. Musk has said he will step back from his work at DOGE at some point this month, and an announcement of Grok on Azure may well come at Microsoft's Build developer conference on May 19th. Beyond DOGE concerns, hosting Grok could also further inflame tensions in Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI. The ChatGPT maker countersued Musk earlier this month over claims that the Tesla boss is using "bad-faith tactics to slow down OpenAI." Elon Musk and OpenAI have been in a rather public spat, stemming from Musk's messy breakup with the AI lab he helped to co-found. At the same time, there have been multiple reports of tensions between Microsoft and OpenAI over capacity requirements and access to AI models. Just this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Nadella and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman are "drifting apart," and that Nadella's hiring of Mustafa Suleyman last year was an "insurance policy against Altman and OpenAI." Suleyman and his Microsoft AI team have reportedly been working on building AI models that can compete directly with OpenAI, but without much success. That's led to Microsoft continuing to rely on OpenAI for most of its AI features in Office and Copilot. I understand Microsoft had also been anticipating OpenAI's GPT-5 model this month, but OpenAI's schedule has been all over the place in recent weeks with delays to new model announcements and capacity issues after the success of its upgraded image generation. It's now unlikely that GPT-5 will appear this month, I'm told. Hosting Grok on Azure is another clear sign that Microsoft is willing to look elsewhere for AI models. Microsoft-owned GitHub Copilot already supports models from Anthropic and Google, in addition to OpenAI. So, it's not inconceivable that one day the main Copilot will also let you pick from a variety of competing AI models, especially if it helps further Microsoft's ambition to become the number one destination for AI developers and users. I'm always keen to hear from readers, so please drop a comment here, or you can reach me at [email protected] if you want to discuss anything else. If you've heard about any of Microsoft's secret projects, you can reach me via email at [email protected] or speak to me confidentially on the Signal messaging app, where I'm tomwarren.01. I'm also tomwarren on Telegram, if you'd prefer to chat there. Thanks for subscribing to Notepad.

Microsoft preparing to host Musk's Grok AI model, The Verge reports

May 1 (Reuters) - Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab is getting ready to host Elon Musk's Grok AI model, The Verge reported on Thursday, citing a source familiar with the plans. The tech giant in recent weeks has been in discussions with Musk's AI startup xAI to host the Grok model and make it available to customers, as well as Microsoft's own product teams through its Azure cloud service, the report said. Grok will be available on Azure AI Foundry, Microsoft's platform for developers that provides access to AI tools and models that help them host, run and manage AI-driven applications, according to the report. Microsoft and xAI did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for a comment. Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Artificial Intelligence

Microsoft Looks Beyond OpenAI, To Host Elon Musk's Grok on Azure | AIM

The integration is part of Microsoft's broader effort to expand its AI portfolio. Microsoft is preparing to integrate Elon Musk's Grok AI model into its Azure cloud service, according to a report by The Verge. The tech giant has been in discussions with Musk's startup xAI to make Grok available to developers and product teams via Azure AI Foundry, its platform for hosting and managing AI applications. The move suggests a possible shift in Microsoft's AI alliances amid rising tensions between Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 but left in 2018, sued the company in 2023, claiming it abandoned its original mission to develop AI "for the benefit of humanity." OpenAI filed a countersuit last month. Grok will be hosted on Azure AI Foundry, giving developers access to the model for application development. Microsoft clarified that while it will provide hosting infrastructure, it will not supply compute for training future Grok versions. A source told The Verge the deal's exclusivity remains uncertain, suggesting Grok could appear on platforms like Amazon Web Services. The integration is part of Microsoft's broader effort to expand its AI portfolio beyond OpenAI. The company has recently tested models from Meta, China's DeepSeek, and xAI for its Copilot products. Meanwhile, media reports point to increasing friction between Microsoft and OpenAI over compute resources and model access. The Wall Street Journal noted that Nadella and Altman are "drifting apart," citing Nadella's hiring of Mustafa Suleyman as an "insurance policy" against potential instability in the OpenAI partnership.Still, Altman recently posted a Studio Ghibli-style image of himself giving Nadella a tour of OpenAI's new office, suggesting some public alignment remains between the two.

Microsoft preparing to host Musk's Grok AI model

Microsoft is set to host Elon Musk's Grok AI model on its Azure cloud platform, according to The Verge. The move signals a deepening partnership with Musk's xAI amid tensions with OpenAI. Grok will feature on Azure AI Foundry, though exclusivity and training support remain uncertain at this stage.Microsoft is getting ready to host Elon Musk's Grok AI model, The Verge reported on Thursday citing a source familiar with the plans. The tech giant has been in discussions with Musk's AI startup xAI in recent weeks to host the Grok model and make it available to customers, as well as Microsoft's own product teams through its Azure cloud service, the report said. Grok will be available on Azure AI Foundry, Microsoft's platform for developers that provides access to AI tools and models that help them host, run and manage AI-driven applications, according to the report. Microsoft and xAI did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for a comment. Tensions have escalated between Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT maker and Microsoft partner OpenAI, and Musk - an OpenAI co-founder who left the startup in 2018 before its explosive growth. The pair is in a feud over OpenAI's future. Musk had sued OpenAI and Altman last year, alleging they had abandoned the startup's original goal of developing AI for the benefit of humanity - not corporate gain. OpenAI counter-sued Musk last month. Microsoft is looking at only providing capacity to host the Grok model, and not the servers for training future models, the report said. It was unclear if Microsoft will strike an exclusive deal on hosting the Grok AI model, or whether other cloud providers such as Amazon's AWS will also be able to host the model, The Verge added. Microsoft has been developing in-house AI reasoning models to reduce its reliance on OpenAI and had begun testing out models from xAI, Meta and China's DeepSeek as potential replacements in its Copilot AI assistant, The Information had reported in March. Microsoft made DeepSeek's R1 model available on its Azure platform and GitHub tool for developers weeks after it surged in popularity.

Microsoft prepares to host Elon Musk's Grok AI on Azure, The Verge reports By Investing.com

Investing.com -- Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) is reportedly preparing its AI infrastructure to host Elon Musk's Grok AI model, according to a Thursday report by the Verge. The tech giant has been in discussions with xAI in recent weeks about making the Grok AI model accessible to its customers and product teams via the Azure cloud service. The potential move could stir up controversy internally and escalate tensions with Microsoft's partner, OpenAI. If the deal goes through, Grok will be made available on Azure AI Foundry. This is Microsoft's AI development platform that equips developers with AI services, tools, and pre-built models to construct AI applications and agents. This arrangement would enable developers to integrate Grok into their apps. Additionally, Microsoft could potentially utilize the AI model across its own apps and services.

Microsoft preparing to host Musk's Grok AI model, The Verge reports

(Reuters) -Microsoft is getting ready to host Elon Musk's Grok AI model, The Verge reported on Thursday citing a source familiar with the plans. The tech giant has been in discussions with Musk's AI startup xAI in recent weeks to host the Grok model and make it available to customers, as well as Microsoft's own product teams through its Azure cloud service, the report said. Grok will be available on Azure AI Foundry, Microsoft's platform for developers that provides access to AI tools and models that help them host, run and manage AI-driven applications, according to the report. Microsoft and xAI did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for a comment. Tensions have escalated between Sam Altman, CEO of ChatGPT maker and Microsoft partner OpenAI, and Musk - an OpenAI co-founder who left the startup in 2018 before its explosive growth. The pair is in a feud over OpenAI's future. Musk had sued OpenAI and Altman last year, alleging they had abandoned the startup's original goal of developing AI for the benefit of humanity -- not corporate gain. OpenAI counter-sued Musk last month. Microsoft is looking at only providing capacity to host the Grok model, and not the servers for training future models, the report said. It was unclear if Microsoft will strike an exclusive deal on hosting the Grok AI model, or whether other cloud providers such as Amazon's AWS will also be able to host the model, The Verge added. Microsoft has been developing in-house AI reasoning models to reduce its reliance on OpenAI and had begun testing out models from xAI, Meta and China's DeepSeek as potential replacements in its Copilot AI assistant, The Information had reported in March. Microsoft made DeepSeek's R1 model available on its Azure platform and GitHub tool for developers weeks after it surged in popularity. (Reporting by Deborah Sophia in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Krishna Chandra Eluri)