Microsoft made some headlines on Monday! One of the first powerful tech companies to offer managed access to Grok, an AI creation of renowned tech tycoon Elon Musk's AI business, xAI, is this one.

Now, via Microsoft's own Azure AI Foundry platform, everyone will be able to access Grok (more precisely, the Grok 3 and Grok 3 mini versions)! And the cherry on top? You'll have full access to all of Azure's reliable service-level agreements, just like any other Microsoft product. Plus, your billing comes straight from Microsoft, maintaining consistency with other models hosted on Azure AI Foundry.

Rewinding a bit, when Elon Musk first unveiled Grok, he intrigued us with descriptions of an AI model that was edgy, outspoken and anti-establishment, ready to dive into controversial discussions where other AI systems wouldn’t dare to go. And in many ways, he delivered. Want Grok to be a bit cheeky and colorful with its language? It will gladly comply, incorporating a vibrancy you wouldn't typically find with say, ChatGPT.

According to SpeechMap, which measures how different models handle sensitive topics, Grok 3 ranks among the most tolerant models.

Grok has been rubbing some people the wrong way, too. Powering numerous features on X, Musk's own social network, it's been on the hot seat lately. There was a recent report that revealed Grok would, upon command, undress images of women. In February, it made headlines for briefly censoring negative mentions of Donald Trump and Musk. And only last week, an "unauthorized modification" led Grok to start mentioning white genocide in South Africa unexpectedly.

The Grok 3 and Grok 3 tiny versions that are accessible through Azure AI Foundry are more limited than the versions that operate on X, so keep that in mind while all of that is going on. They come with bonus features including data integration, customization, and governance capabilities not necessarily provided by xAI through its API.