Thought Leadership
Microsoft opened its cloud platform for Elon Musk’s Grok AI model on Monday. This makes the Group one of the first major cloud providers to enable enterprise customers to use xAI’s AI system.
Integration takes place via the Azure AI Foundry platform, on which Grok 3 and Grok 3 mini in particular are made available. According to Microsoft, customers benefit from the same service level agreements that apply to other Microsoft services. Billing runs directly via the Azure platform – similar to other AI models in the portfolio. “The launch of Grok 3 on Azure AI Foundry Models is an exciting development for the AI development community,” writes Microsoft in a blog post. “It combines the bold innovation of the xAI model with the robust tools of the Azure platform. Whether you’re developing intelligent assistants, processing large documents, or exploring new AI frontiers, Grok 3 offers a powerful new option to consider.
Musk originally positioned Grok as a deliberately provocative counterpart to other AI systems. The model should be less filtered and also answer controversial questions. This orientation is reflected, among other things, in the fact that Grok uses vulgar expressions when prompted to do so, which one would not expect from other systems.
The AI software, which also supports functions on Musk’s X platform, has been repeatedly criticized. However, the Azure versions of Grok 3 and Grok 3 mini will be equipped with significantly stricter security measures than the X version. Microsoft is also supplementing the offering with extended functions for data integration, customization options and compliance requirements.
