> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://bytevyte.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Microsoft Puts Grok Models in Copilot Across Word, Excel and PowerPoint - URL: https://bytevyte.com/microsoft-puts-grok-models-in-copilot-across-word-excel-and-powerpoint/ - Published: 2026-09-14T05:08:49.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-14T05:08:49.000Z - Description: Microsoft adds Grok models in Copilot for Word, Excel and PowerPoint via the Frontier preview, off by default and unavailable in the EU, EFTA and UK. - Author: Bytevyte Editorial - Tags: quick-beats **Microsoft** has started adding **Grok models in Copilot** inside **Word**, **Excel** and **PowerPoint**, giving business users a third AI vendor to select alongside OpenAI and Anthropic. The rollout runs through Microsoft's Frontier early-access program and began on 12 September 2026\. Nothing turns on automatically: an administrator has to enable the capability before anyone in a tenant can pick Grok from the model menu. The release is deliberately narrow. Microsoft describes it as a focused preview built to gather customer feedback on how Grok handles common productivity scenarios, from drafting documents and refining spreadsheets to assembling slide decks. Those three apps sit at the centre of the Microsoft 365 bundle, so the preview doubles as a test of whether an outside model can hold up on everyday office work. Microsoft also confirmed that Grok is not switched on by default for any tenant. Administrators keep control of the setting, which gives IT teams a veto over whether employee prompts and document contents reach a third-party model provider. Household subscribers on Microsoft 365 Personal and Family plans are outside the preview, which is aimed at organizations with managed tenants. ## Grok Models in Copilot: What Administrators Control Frontier is Microsoft's early-access track for organizations willing to test unfinished Copilot features before general availability. Grok is part of that preview, so the capability can be altered, expanded or withdrawn on Microsoft's schedule rather than a customer's. Access is limited to organizations Microsoft has admitted to the program, so the test group is a slice of Microsoft 365 commercial customers rather than the full base. Data handling sits alongside the model picker. **SpaceXAI** has been added to Microsoft's Online Services subprocessor list, the public register of vendors that process customer data on Microsoft's behalf. Microsoft states that enterprise controls and data privacy protections apply to the Grok integration. Microsoft CEO **Satya Nadella** presented the move as a further widening of model choice in Copilot. Elon Musk publicly welcomed the integration on social media. Microsoft has not published pricing, usage limits or a general availability date for Grok in the Office apps, and it has not said how long the preview will run. The program exists so the company can measure demand before committing to a wider release, which means Frontier customers on the early track carry most of the testing burden. Procurement teams gain leverage from the arrangement as well. With three suppliers inside one subscription, buyers can negotiate on price and terms per workload instead of replacing an entire suite, though every added provider widens the number of subprocessor agreements a compliance team has to track. ## Europe Is Left Out of the Preview Frontier customers in the European Union, the European Free Trade Association countries and the United Kingdom will not receive Grok while the preview runs. Microsoft has given no date for when that changes, and it has published no compliance rationale for the exclusion. The regional carve-out is unusual because Microsoft already manages model choice in those same markets through a separate administrator toggle. A documented setting allows EU, EFTA and UK administrators to enable Anthropic models in Copilot across Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Model sourcing at Microsoft is handled market by market, and vendors do not arrive everywhere at once. Grok also arrives while its image-generation tools remain the subject of public controversy. ## Copilot as a Model Marketplace Grok's arrival in the Office apps is the latest step in a multi-vendor strategy that has been running for a year. Anthropic's Claude models reached Copilot Studio in September 2025\. Grok 4.1 Fast followed in preview for US organizations through Copilot Studio on 19 February 2026, and Grok 4.6 has been documented in GitHub Copilot for the Pro and Pro+ tiers. | Model provider | Where it appears in Copilot | Availability notes | | -------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | | OpenAI | Core Microsoft 365 Copilot experiences | Microsoft's original and largest model partner | | Anthropic | Copilot Studio since September 2025; Word, Excel and PowerPoint through an admin setting | Setting covers EU, EFTA and UK tenants | | xAI (Grok) | Word, Excel and PowerPoint | Frontier preview from 12 September 2026; opt-in; excluded in the EU, EFTA and the UK | Microsoft is OpenAI's largest investor, and its flagship productivity assistant now routes work to OpenAI, Anthropic and xAI systems from one interface. That arrangement makes Copilot a marketplace for frontier models rather than a wrapper around a single lab's technology. Developers reached the same pattern earlier. Grok models have been available through GitHub Copilot, Microsoft's coding assistant, which makes the Office apps a later surface for the model rather than the first. Grok reached Microsoft's collaboration stack quickly as well. The model arrived in Teams through a bot a day before the Office preview, which points to a widening partnership across the product suite rather than a single-app experiment. Model choice changes the output a user gets, since providers differ in how they handle formula generation, long-document summarisation and slide structure. Microsoft's stated reason for the preview is to learn which tasks customers prefer Grok for, and that feedback will determine whether the model stays in the picker, spreads to more apps or is retired. The consequences differ by audience. For administrators, model choice becomes a governance question, since every provider added to the picker needs a review of data retention, regional hosting and subprocessor terms. For employees, the change is closer to a dropdown menu in an app they already open daily. For Microsoft, the strategy spreads risk. If one model provider raises prices, changes terms or falls behind on capability, the company can shift traffic without rebuilding Copilot. Competitors that ship a single in-house model do not have that option. ## Why this matters Grok models in Copilot remain a preview with no general release date, no EU, EFTA or UK access and a switch that stays off by default, so most Copilot users will not notice the change this month. The structural signal is larger: Microsoft is assembling competing AI suppliers inside its own productivity suite while remaining OpenAI's largest investor. Model choice is becoming a standard feature of office software, and the vendor list is now something administrators have to manage. ## Sources [Expanding model choice in Copilot with Grok](https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/microsoft-copilot-blog/expanding-model-choice-in-copilot-with-grok/4555749?ref=bytevyte.com) [Microsoft 365 Copilot](https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/category/microsoft-copilot?ref=bytevyte.com) [Microsoft Copilot Blog](https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/category/microsoft-copilot/blog/microsoft-copilot-blog?ref=bytevyte.com) [Copilot in Microsoft 365 apps with Anthropic models](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/copilot/copilot-anthropic-apps?ref=bytevyte.com) Photo by [Salvador Rios](https://unsplash.com/@salvadorr?utm%5Fsource=bytevyte&utm%5Fmedium=referral) on [Unsplash](https://unsplash.com/?utm%5Fsource=bytevyte&utm%5Fmedium=referral) ## Related Articles - [Microsoft MAI Models Cut Copilot Costs in Excel, Outlook](https://bytevyte.com/microsoft-mai-models-cut-copilot-costs-in-excel-outlook/) - [Microsoft 365 Copilot Gains GPT-5.5 Instant for Faster AI Responses](https://bytevyte.com/microsoft-365-copilot-gains-gpt-5-5-instant-for-faster-ai-responses/) - [Microsoft 365 Copilot Redesign Cuts Loading Times in Half and Adds Work IQ](https://bytevyte.com/microsoft-365-copilot-redesign-cuts-loading-times-in-half-and-adds-work-iq/) ✔Human Verified --- *Researched and cross-referenced against primary sources by the Bytevyte editorial team. This article was generated with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by the Bytevyte editorial team.*