Elon Musk shocked attendees with a virtual appearance at Microsoft’s annual developer conference. This was surprising because he is actively suing the company and has clashed with Bill Gates.
This comes while he’s suing Microsoft and feuding with founder Bill Gates.
Elon Musk shocked attendees by appearing at a Microsoft event
In a move few expected, Elon Musk appeared virtually at Microsoft’s developer event. This comes while he’s suing Microsoft and feuding with founder Bill Gates.
The tech mogul has a long history of tension with Microsoft, both competitively and personally. His public feud with Gates has escalated in recent years.
Musk and Gates have traded barbs. Gates criticized Musk’s politics and AI ethics, even accusing Musk of harming children through government cuts.
Musk fired back, branding Gates a “huge liar” and linking him to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein in a controversial podcast appearance with Joe Rogan.
Additionally, Musk is engaged in an ongoing legal battle with the company over alleged anti-competitive practices. He has also clashed with Gates over political and ethical issues.
Bill Gates accused of Musk of ‘killing the world’s poorest children’
Tensions between Musk and Gates have escalated in recent years. Their disagreement spans both technological visions and political ideologies.
Gates has strongly criticized Musk’s role in the Trump administration.
Previously, Musk also pushed mass layoffs across departments—including the foreign aid agency USAID.
USAID was the world’s largest donor of humanitarian assistance, operating with a staff of 10,000 and a $40 billion budget in 2023.
In a interview with the “Financial Times”, Gates blamed Musk’s actions for the collapse of vital humanitarian support systems.
He said: “The world’s richest man is killing the world’s poorest children.”
Gates referred to Musk’s defunding of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), once the world’s largest aid agency.
Bill Gates said the cuts caused medicine and food supplies to expire in storage. These essential items never reached the children who needed them.
Gates warns that DOGE cuts may unleash a wave of preventable disease and suffering.
Gates warned that halting medical supply chains could lead to outbreaks of “HIV, measles, and polio”.
Additionally, Gates also accused Musk of cancelling grants to a Gaza hospital that helped prevent HIV transmission from mothers to babies.
Gates said: “Let him meet the children who now have HIV because he cut that money.”
While, Musk claimed called USAID “a criminal organization” and claimed: “You’ve got to basically get rid of the whole thing.”
In turn, Musk responded by calling Gates a “huge liar”.
Despite this bitter exchange, Gates has said he is still open to working with Musk in the future—if circumstances allow it.
Musk’s Microsoft lawsuit doesn’t block Grok–Azure deal
Musk’s issues with Microsoft go beyond personal rivalry. He is currently suing the company over its relationship with OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman—whom Musk considers a long-time business rival.
Yet at the Microsoft Build developer conference, Musk virtually appeared after it was revealed that Azure will now support Grok, the AI chatbot created by his company xAI.
The collaboration suggests a surprising willingness to cooperate, even amid public and legal friction.
Musk admits Grok flaws, seeks developer help
During his virtual remarks, Musk addressed recent controversies involving Grok. These included problematic responses about white genocide and Holocaust denial.
He acknowledged those issues, calling them “mistakes,”.
Musk then assured the audience that xAI is committed to rapid improvements.
“I do wanna emphasize we have made and will make mistakes,” Musk said. “But we aspire to correct them very quickly.”
He added that xAI is actively seeking feedback from the development community to guide Grok’s improvement.
Additionally, Musk stated the goal is to make Grok something developers are proud to use and shape.
Additionally, Elon Musk is positioning Grok as a major competitor to ChatGPT and other advanced AI tools.
This effort is part of a broader push that included his acquisition of X (formerly Twitter), which is now integrated into xAI’s ecosystem.