Microsoft has become one of the first major cloud providers to offer managed access to Grok, the artificial intelligence model developed by Elon Musk’s AI startup, xAI.
The move was announced Monday as part of an expansion of Microsoft’s Azure AI Foundry platform.
Customers can now access Grok 3 and Grok 3 Mini through Azure, where the models come with Microsoft’s standard service-level agreements, enterprise billing, and support features. As with other models hosted on Azure, clients will be billed directly through Microsoft.
While Musk originally introduced Grok as a bold, unfiltered alternative to existing AI systems often described as “anti-woke” Microsoft’s version is more restricted. The Grok models hosted on Azure are customized for professional use, with guardrails and governance features that limit potentially offensive or inappropriate outputs.
“Grok on Azure will have all the service-level agreements Azure customers expect from any Microsoft product,” the company said in a statement.
Originally developed to power features on Musk’s social media platform X, Grok has drawn criticism for its controversial responses. A recent benchmark from SpeechMap found that Grok 3 is among the most permissive AI models when responding to sensitive topics. Reports have surfaced of the model generating offensive content, including sexually explicit images and politically biased statements.
In response to public scrutiny, Microsoft appears to have implemented tighter controls. The Azure-hosted versions of Grok offer enterprise-focused enhancements such as data integration, customization options, and stricter content governance, distinguishing them from the versions accessible through xAI’s API or on X.
By bringing Grok into the Azure ecosystem, Microsoft adds to its growing roster of third-party models available to developers and businesses, which already includes offerings from OpenAI, Meta, and Mistral.
The move also signals a deepening relationship between Microsoft and Elon Musk’s AI ventures, despite Musk’s public criticism of the company’s dominance in the AI sector.
