Microsoft has officially integrated Elon Musk's Grok AI models into its Azure cloud platform, significantly expanding its artificial intelligence portfolio while creating an unexpected alliance in the competitive AI landscape.
Announced at Microsoft's Build developer conference, the partnership makes Grok 3 and Grok 3 Mini available through Azure AI Foundry, Microsoft's hub for AI model deployment. This collaboration combines xAI's cutting-edge models with Azure's enterprise-ready infrastructure, giving developers access to Grok's advanced capabilities in a secure, scalable environment.
Microsoft will run the Grok models on its Azure cloud infrastructure and bill customers directly for usage, with pricing starting at $3 per million input tokens and $15 per million output tokens. The models were initially available for free trial until early June 2025.
The addition underscores Microsoft's commitment to supporting an open, diverse AI ecosystem rather than relying on a single model provider, bringing a fresh new model into the fold and expanding the toolkit available to developers. Microsoft now offers customers the option to run versions of xAI's models hosted and billed directly by Microsoft, with the company now offering 1,900 models hosted by itself or its partners.
Instead of replicating Grok's sometimes controversial experience from X (formerly Twitter), Microsoft is offering a more controlled version within Azure. These versions include stricter content controls, enhanced data integration, and improved governance tools, distinguishing them from the models directly available through xAI.
The partnership is notable given Grok has faced criticism for its mixed performance, raising questions about its readiness for enterprise use. The Tow Center for Digital Journalism recently found that Grok 3 generated inaccurate news citations in 94% of cases.
The announcement is particularly significant given Microsoft's partnership with OpenAI. Musk founded xAI, the startup behind Grok, but has been locked in a feud with OpenAI since stepping down from its board in the late 2010s, citing disagreements over its leadership direction. A legal battle between Musk and OpenAI began in February 2024 when the billionaire alleged the company had strayed from its founding mission as a nonprofit.