Elon’s Grok Joins Azure — Yes, That Microsoft

Elon Musk’s Grok AI is now officially on Microsoft Azure. That’s right — after months of legal barbs and public jabs at Microsoft and OpenAI, Musk’s xAI has partnered with Satya Nadella’s company to host Grok 3 and Grok 3 Mini on Azure AI Foundry.

“These models will have all the service level agreements (SLAs) Azure customers expect from any Microsoft product,” Microsoft confirmed at its Build 2025 developer conference Monday.

The move comes as Microsoft expands Azure AI Foundry, its fast-growing platform that offers a menu of third-party AI models, even ones that compete directly with OpenAI, its largest AI partner.

But the partnership comes as a surprise—maybe even a contradiction. Let’s have a look:

It’s a strategic play. But it’s also eyebrow-raising, given that just a few months ago, Musk added Microsoft to his lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing the companies of forming a “de facto AI monopoly.”

Not-So-Friendly Fire

Let’s rewind. Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 and left in 2018, later accusing it of abandoning its nonprofit roots. In 2023, he signed an open letter calling for a pause in advanced AI development, then launched Grok months later.

Critics, including former allies like Reid Hoffman, called it hypocritical.

He has also publicly accused Microsoft of controlling OpenAI through its multibillion-dollar investment. In 2024, Musk added Microsoft as a defendant in a lawsuit against OpenAI, claiming they’ve created a de facto AI monopoly.

Nadella has pushed back hard: “We have a non-controlling stake,” he said previously, calling Musk’s claims “factually not correct.”

Apart from OpenAI, Musk has taken potshots at Microsoft and Nadella on other occasions, too — from mocking Azure outages to criticizing the company’s diversity practices and privacy policies, Musk’s relationship with Nadella remains... complicated.

But for now, Azure hosts Grok — and that’s a plot twist no one saw coming.

Nadella’s Bold Bet On Grok

Despite the bad blood, Microsoft sees Grok as a strategic addition to Azure AI Foundry. For Musk, it’s a way to scale his models—even on infrastructure built by a company he’s relentlessly criticized.

Sources told The Verge that Nadella personally pushed for Grok’s inclusion, eager to position Azure as the default platform for hosting emerging models, regardless of past drama. Microsoft’s internal teams will now use Grok, and customers will be billed directly by Microsoft.

Meanwhile, it was reported last week that Microsoft and OpenAI are renegotiating their multibillion-dollar deal, adding tension to the mix.

The Bigger Picture: AI Realpolitik

The timing is notable. Microsoft and OpenAI are reportedly renegotiating the terms of their partnership, and some insiders see the Grok deal as a subtle signal: Microsoft doesn’t need OpenAI as much as it once did.

For Musk, it’s a pragmatic move that allows Grok to scale, without surrendering control.

For Microsoft, it’s a flex: even the loudest critics end up using Azure.

For the rest of us? It's just another twist in the AI drama of 2025.

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