Microsoft deepens AI bet, adds xAI's Grok to Azure AI Foundry
The recent controversy saw Grok provide "unbacked right-wing propaganda" in response to unrelated user prompts, mirroring a conspiracy theory often amplified by Musk himself, who was born in South Africa.
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Microsoft has announced that Elon Musk's xAI chatbot, Grok, will now be hosted on its Azure cloud servers, a move that comes just days after the AI model generated highly controversial responses about "white genocide" in South Africa, as per reports.
The decision to host Grok on Microsoft's Azure AI Foundry platform broadens the tech giant's already extensive roster of AI models available to developers, which includes offerings from OpenAI, Meta, Mistral, and others. This strategic expansion positions Azure as a comprehensive hub for diverse generative AI tools.
Speaking at a Microsoft event, Elon Musk acknowledged the recent incident, stating that xAI's models "aspire to truth with minimal error" while conceding that "there's always going to be some mistakes that are made." In a recorded conversation with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Musk emphasized the critical need for AI models to be "grounded in reality" and pledged transparency from xAI when errors occur.
The recent controversy saw Grok provide "unbacked right-wing propaganda" in response to unrelated user prompts, mirroring a conspiracy theory often amplified by Musk himself, who was born in South Africa. xAI attributed the rogue responses to an "unauthorized modification" that violated its internal policies, vowing to make Grok's system prompts public, enhance review processes, and implement a 24/7 monitoring team.
Musk's comments on transparency could be seen as a veiled critique of OpenAI, his former co-founded company and Microsoft's primary AI partner, which often faces criticism for the secrecy surrounding its internal workings. Despite this, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also appeared remotely at the Microsoft Build event, highlighting the ongoing strong partnership with Nadella.
The integration of Grok onto Azure AI Foundry underscores Microsoft's commitment to offering a wide array of AI models for developers. The company also spotlighted the growing impact of AI in software development, with Microsoft-owned GitHub CoPilot now aiding 15 million developers. Altman lauded these advancements, describing AI tools as "virtual teammates" capable of significantly transforming programming.
The announcement follows recent reports of Microsoft laying off thousands of employees, part of a broader push to streamline management and leverage new technologies.
