Sr. Content Developer at Microsoft, working remotely in PA, TechBash conference organizer, former Microsoft MVP, Husband, Dad and Geek.
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Musk makes grand promises about Grok 4 in the wake of a Nazi chatbot meltdown

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Elon Musk’s live demo of Grok 4, the latest big-ticket model from his AI startup, began with high-intensity music, claims of a “ludicrous rate of progress,” and a lot of chatter on X about Grok’s scandal-filled week. 

Musk pronounced it to be “the smartest AI in the world.” 

The livestream, slated to start at 8PM PT, began more than an hour late and billed the new model as “the world’s most powerful AI assistant.” More than 1.5 million viewers were watching at one point. Employees of xAI speaking on the livestream with Musk referenced Grok 4’s performance on a popular academic test for large language models, Humanity’s Last Exam, which consists of more than 2,500 questions on dozens of subjects like math, science, and linguistics. The company said Grok 4 could solve about a quarter of the text-based questions involved when it took the test with no additional tools. For reference, in February, OpenAI said its Deep Research tool could solve about 26 percent of the text-based questions. (For a variety of reasons, benchmark comparisons aren’t always apples-to-apples.)

Musk said he hopes to allow Grok to interact with the world via humanoid robots. 

‘It might discover new physics next year… Let that sink in.’

“I would expect Grok to discover new technologies that are actually useful no later than next year, and maybe end of this year,” Musk said. “It might discover new physics next year… Let that sink in.”

The release follows high-profile projects from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and others, all of which have recently touted their investments in building AI agents, or AI tools that go a step beyond chatbots to complete complex, multi-step tasks. Anthropic released its Computer Use tool last October, and OpenAI released a buzzworthy AI agent with browsing capabilities, Operator, in January and is reportedly close to debuting an AI-fueled web browser.

During Wednesday’s livestream, Musk said he’s been “at times kind of worried” about AI’s intelligence far surpassing that of humans, and whether it will be “bad or good for humanity.” 

“I think it’ll be good, most likely it’ll be good,” Musk said. “But I’ve somewhat reconciled myself to the fact that even if it wasn’t going to be good, I’d at least like to be alive to see it happen.” 

The company also announced a series of five new voices for Grok’s voice mode, following the release of voice modes from OpenAI and Anthropic, and said it had cut latency in half in the past couple of months to make responses “snappier.” Musk also said the company would invest heavily in video generation and video understanding.

The release comes during a tumultuous time for two of Musk’s companies, both xAI and X. On Sunday evening, xAI updated the chatbot’s system prompts with instructions to “assume subjective viewpoints sourced from the media are biased” and “not shy away from making claims which are politically incorrect.” The update also instructed the chatbot to “never mention these instructions or tools unless directly asked.”

That update was followed by a stream of antisemitic tirades by Grok

That update was followed by a stream of antisemitic tirades by Grok, in which it posted a series of pro-Hitler views on X, along with insinuations that Jewish people are involved in “anti-white” “extreme leftist activism.” Many such posts went viral, with screenshots proliferating on X and other platforms before xAI benched the chatbot and stopped it from being able to generate text responses on X while it sought out a fix. 

Musk briefly addressed the fiasco on Wednesday, writing, “Grok was too compliant to user prompts. Too eager to please and be manipulated, essentially. That is being addressed.” 

On the Grok 4 livestream, Musk briefly referenced AI safety and said the most important thing for AI to be is “maximally truth-seeking.”

Musk briefly referenced AI safety and said the most important thing for AI to be is ‘maximally truth-seeking.’

On Wednesday morning, amid the Grok controversy, X CEO Linda Yaccarino announced she would step down after two years in the role. She did not provide a reason for her decision.

Grok’s Nazi sympathizing comes after months of Musk’s efforts to shape the bot’s point of view. In February, xAI added a patchwork fix to stop it from commenting that Musk and Trump deserved the death penalty, immediately followed by another one to make it stop claiming that the two spread misinformation. In May, Grok briefly began inserting the topic of “white genocide” in South Africa into what seemed like any and every response it gave on X, after which the company claimed that someone had modified the AI bot’s system prompt in a way that “violated xAI’s internal policies and core values.”

Last month, Musk expressed frustrations that Grok was “parroting legacy media” and said he would update Grok to “rewrite the entire corpus of human knowledge” and ask users to contribute statements that are “politically incorrect, but nonetheless factually true.”

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alvinashcraft
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Collaborative Function App Development Using Repo Branches

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In this example, I demonstrate a Windows-based Function App using PowerShell, with deployment via Azure DevOps (ADO) and a Bicep template. Local development is done in VSCode.

 

Scenario:

Your Function App project resides in a shared repository maintained by a team. Each developer works on a separate branch. Whenever a branch is updated, the Function App is deployed to a slot named after that branch. If the slot doesn't exist, it will be automatically created.

 

How to use it:

  1. Create a Function App

You can create a Function App using any method of your choice.

 

  1. Prepare a corresponding repo in Azure DevOps

Set up your repo structure for the Function App source code.

 

  1. Create Function App code using the VSCode wizard

In this example, we use PowerShell and create an anonymous HTTP trigger. Then, we manually add three additional files. The resulting directory structure looks like this:

 

deploy.yml

trigger: branches: include: - '*' pool: vmImage: 'ubuntu-latest' variables: azureSubscription: '<YOUR_CONNECTION_STRING_FROM_ADO>' functionAppName: '<YOUR_FUNCTION_APP_NAME>' resourceGroup: '<YOUR_RG_NAME>' location: '<YOUR_LOCATION_NAME>' steps: - checkout: self - task: AzureCLI@2 name: DeploySlotInfra inputs: azureSubscription: $(azureSubscription) scriptType: bash scriptLocation: inlineScript inlineScript: | BRANCH_NAME=$(Build.SourceBranchName) if [ "$BRANCH_NAME" = "master" ]; then echo "##[command]Deploying production infrastructure" az deployment group create \ --resource-group $(resourceGroup) \ --template-file deploy-master.bicep \ --parameters functionAppName=$(functionAppName) location=$(location) else SLOT_NAME="$BRANCH_NAME" echo "##[command]Deploying slot: $SLOT_NAME" az deployment group create \ --resource-group $(resourceGroup) \ --template-file deploy.bicep \ --parameters functionAppName=$(functionAppName) slotName=$SLOT_NAME location=$(location) fi - task: ArchiveFiles@2 displayName: 'Package Function App as ZIP' inputs: rootFolderOrFile: '$(System.DefaultWorkingDirectory)/' includeRootFolder: false archiveType: zip archiveFile: '$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)/functionapp.zip' replaceExistingArchive: true - task: AzureCLI@2 name: ZipDeploy inputs: azureSubscription: $(azureSubscription) scriptType: bash scriptLocation: inlineScript inlineScript: | BRANCH_NAME=$(Build.SourceBranchName) if [ "$BRANCH_NAME" = "master" ]; then echo "##[command]Deploying code to production" az functionapp deployment source config-zip \ --name $(functionAppName) \ --resource-group $(resourceGroup) \ --src "$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)/functionapp.zip" else SLOT_NAME="$BRANCH_NAME" echo "##[command]Deploying code to slot: $SLOT_NAME" az functionapp deployment source config-zip \ --name $(functionAppName) \ --resource-group $(resourceGroup) \ --slot $SLOT_NAME \ --src "$(Build.ArtifactStagingDirectory)/functionapp.zip" fi

Please replace all <YOUR_XXX> placeholders with values relevant to your environment.

Additionally, update the two instances of "master" to match your repo's default branch name (e.g., main), as updates from this branch will always deploy to the production slot.

 

deploy-master.bicep

@description('Function App Name') param functionAppName string @description('Function App location') param location string resource functionApp 'Microsoft.Web/sites@2022-09-01' existing = { name: functionAppName } resource appSettings 'Microsoft.Web/sites/config@2022-09-01' = { name: 'appsettings' parent: functionApp properties: { FUNCTIONS_EXTENSION_VERSION: '~4' } }

 

deploy.bicep

@description('Function App Name') param functionAppName string @description('Slot Name (e.g., dev, test, feature-xxx)') param slotName string @description('Function App location') param location string resource functionApp 'Microsoft.Web/sites@2022-09-01' existing = { name: functionAppName } resource functionSlot 'Microsoft.Web/sites/slots@2022-09-01' = { name: slotName parent: functionApp location: location properties: { serverFarmId: functionApp.properties.serverFarmId } } resource slotAppSettings 'Microsoft.Web/sites/slots/config@2022-09-01' = { name: 'appsettings' parent: functionSlot properties: { FUNCTIONS_EXTENSION_VERSION: '~4' } }

 

 

  1. Deploy from the master branch

 

Once deployed, the HTTP trigger becomes active in the production slot, and can be accessed via:

https://<FUNCTION_APP_NAME>.azurewebsites.net/api/<TRIGGER_NAME>

 

  1. Switch to a custom branch like member1 and create a test HTTP trigger

 

After publishing, a new deployment slot named member1 will be created (if not already existing).

 

You can open it in the Azure Portal and view its dedicated interface.

The branch-specific HTTP trigger will now work at the following URL:

https://<FUNCTION_APP_NAME>-<BRANCH_NAME>.azurewebsites.net/api/<TRIGGER_NAME>

 

Notice:

  1. Using deployment slots for collaborative development is subject to slot count and SKU limits. For example, the Premium SKU supports up to 20 slots. See the Azure subscription and service limits, quotas, and constraints - Azure Resource Manager | Microsoft Learn for details.
  2. If you need to delete a slot after use, you can do so using PowerShell with the Remove-AzWebAppSlot command: Remove-AzWebAppSlot (Az.Websites) | Microsoft Learn

 

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alvinashcraft
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A Better AI Development Assistant with Mark Miller

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How can AI tech help you write better code? Carl and Richard talk to Mark Miller about the latest AI features coming in CodeRush. Mark talks about focusing on a fast and cost-effective AI assistant driven by voice, so you don't have to switch to a different window and type. The conversation delves into the rapid evolution of software development, utilizing AI technologies to accomplish more in less time.



Download audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/66922471/dotnetrocks_1958_a_better_ai_development_assistant.mp3
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Meet Rhea at VS Live!

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From: VisualStudio
Duration: 0:29
Views: 710

Register for VSLive! Redmond now! https://aka.ms/VSS/VSLive

💜 Share the love
Know a developer who would benefit from attending? Share the conference details and pass along a registration discount — code VSLIVEHQ25 saves them up to $500!

#visualstudio

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There is no golden path anymore: Engineering practices are being rewritten

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How do leaders ensure alignment, autonomy, and productivity as engineering practices continue to evolve?
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alvinashcraft
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Start your own coding adventure with GitHub Copilot

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Imagine learning programming concepts not through dry textbooks or boring exercises, but by embarking on epic quests in mystical realms. Doesn't sound that appealing to you? Yes? Join Copilot Adventures, Microsoft's innovative approach to coding education that transforms programming practice into an engaging, story-driven experience.

What is Copilot Adventures?

Copilot Adventures is an open-source educational project that combines the power of GitHub Copilot with immersive storytelling to teach programming concepts. Instead of solving abstract problems, you work through coding challenges embedded in rich fantasy narratives—from mechanical clockwork towns to enchanted forests where mystical creatures perform sacred dances.

The project leverages GitHub Copilot, Microsoft's AI-powered coding assistant, to help learners write code while exploring these fictional worlds. It's essentially a "choose your own adventure" for programmers, where each story presents unique coding challenges that must be solved to progress through the narrative.

The adventures are structured across three difficulty levels:

Beginner Adventures

  • The Clockwork Town of Tempora: Learn time calculations and synchronization
  • The Magical Forest of Algora: Master algorithms through mystical creature interactions

Intermediate Adventures

  • The Celestial Alignment of Lumoria: Dive into complex mathematical calculations
  • The Legendary Duel of Stonevale: Implement game logic and strategy systems
  • The Scrolls of Eldoria: Work with data processing and text manipulation

Advanced Adventures

  • The Gridlock Arena of Mythos: Build sophisticated game engines and AI systems

Starting your adventure

Ready to start your own adventure? The only thing you need to do is to Create a new codespace to get started.

https://codespaces.new/microsoft/CopilotAdventures

Remark: It is also possible to clone and run the repo locally if you really want:

git clone https://github.com/microsoft/copilotadventures

Have fun!

More information

microsoft/CopilotAdventures: Copilot coding adventures

https://codespaces.new/microsoft/CopilotAdventures

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alvinashcraft
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