Elon Musk warns Nadella as Microsoft rolls out OpenAI's GPT-5 model

Elon Musk slams GPT-5 launch as underwhelming, touts Grok 4 as superior; Nadella stays optimistic, highlights innovation and healthy AI competition

Elon Musk and Satya Nadella are once again at loggerheads, this time over the debut of GPT-5. xAI chief Elon Musk wasn’t particularly pleased on Thursday as his biggest competitor, OpenAI, released its latest GPT-5 model. Musk fired off a flurry of posts in the following hours, claiming that his company’s Grok 4 Heavy model remains the “most powerful AI” model available.

 

On 7 August, Microsoft began rolling out OpenAI’s newest model, GPT-5, across several of its major platforms, including Microsoft 365 Copilot, GitHub Copilot, Azure AI Foundry, and the standalone Copilot app.

 

Calling it the “most capable model yet,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella highlighted improvements in reasoning, coding, writing, and overall conversational abilities. 

 

Trained entirely on Microsoft’s Azure model, GPT-5 is designed to support developers, businesses, and general users in more intuitive and productive ways. Nadella noted the rapid pace of innovation, recalling that GPT-4 was introduced at Microsoft’s Redmond campus just two and a half years ago.

Musk warns Nadella against GPT-5

But not everyone was celebrating. Musk responded, calling GPT-5 “underwhelming” compared to his company’s Grok 4 model. In a post on X, he warned Nadella, “OpenAI is going to eat Microsoft alive,” insisting that Grok 4 remains the most advanced AI available. 

 

He went further, revealing that Grok 5 is already under development and expected to launch by the end of the year. Musk also showcased Grok’s new “Imagine” feature, which allows users to generate both images and videos, and will be available for free. In contrast, rival platforms typically place video generation features like OpenAI’s Sora behind paywalls.

Nadella responds with calm optimism

Nadella responded to Musk’s remarks with characteristic composure, posting, “People have been trying for 50 years and that’s the fun of it!” He emphasised the importance of learning, innovation, partnerships, and competition. Nadella said he looks forward to seeing Grok 4 run on Azure, and was already excited about Grok 5.

This exchange is the latest in the ongoing rivalry between the two tech titans. Musk has frequently raised concerns over Microsoft’s deepening ties with OpenAI and again cautioned Nadella against over-reliance on the ChatGPT maker.

What users can expect from GPT-5

According to Microsoft and OpenAI, GPT-5 brings notable improvements in several areas, including mathematics, writing, health, coding, and visual perception. The model is available free to all ChatGPT users, with paying users receiving higher usage limits. 

 

Thanks to the Microsoft-OpenAI partnership, GPT-5 is now deeply embedded across Microsoft’s platforms. While OpenAI’s rollout may take a few days to reach all users, the model is already accessible via the Copilot website.