Microsoft has announced that Azure OpenAI Service is now generally available.
“ChatGPT is coming soon to the Azure OpenAI Service, which is now generally available, as we help customers apply the world’s most advanced AI models to their own business imperatives,” said Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO at Microsoft.
With this service, businesses can apply for access to the most advanced AI models in the world, including GPT-3.5, Codex, and DALL-E 2. These models are backed by the trusted enterprise-grade capabilities and AI-optimized infrastructure of Microsoft Azure.
Soon customers will also be able to access ChatGPT through Azure OpenAI Service.
Empowering customers with AI models
In November 2021, Microsoft introduced the Azure OpenAI Service to equip customers with access to advanced generative AI models through its reliable and secure cloud infrastructure. Complete with Responsible AI capabilities, this service offers users a comprehensive suite of trustworthy tools that guarantee data privacy, compliance, and reliability.
Organizations of all sizes, from startups to multinational corporations, have begun utilizing the power of Azure OpenAI Service. This allows them to do more with fewer resources while improving experiences for their customers and streamlining operational processes within. Companies are taking advantage of the capabilities of Azure OpenAI Service by applying it to advanced use cases such as customer support, customization, and gaining insights from data using search, data extraction, and classification.
The Azure OpenAI Service provides businesses and developers with high-performance AI models that are production-ready and have industry-leading uptime. This is the same service that Microsoft uses to power its own products, including GitHub Copilot (AI pair programmer helping developers write better code), Power BI (uses GPT-3-powered natural language to automatically generate formulae and expressions), and Microsoft Designer (helps build stunning content with natural language prompts).
Approaching AI responsibly
For AI to be implemented responsibly, especially with powerful new generative models, Microsoft and its partner OpenAI have taken an iterative approach in closely assessing use cases. Furthermore, the Azure OpenAI Service has been equipped with guardrails for protection that aligns with Responsible AI principles. In addition, developers must adhere to the Limited Access Framework by submitting an application outlining their use case or intended application before they can access this service.
Content filters that are designed to detect abusive, hateful, and offensive content continuously monitor the input provided to the service as well as the generated content. If there is a confirmed policy violation, Microsoft may ask the developer to take immediate action to prevent further abuse.
“We are confident in the quality of the AI models we are using and offering customers today, and we strongly believe they will empower businesses and people to innovate in entirely new and exciting ways,” said Eric Boyd Corporate Vice President, of AI Platform.
How to access Azure OpenAI Service?
The Azure OpenAI Service is only available to a limited number of people because of the high demand, upcoming product improvements, and Microsoft’s commitment to responsible AI. For now, Microsoft is only working with customers that it has an existing partnership, has lower-risk use cases, or is committed to incorporating mitigations. To access the service, companies must apply for initial access. Moreover, all solutions using the Azure OpenAI service have to go through a use case review before being released for production use.
For initial access or a production review, apply here.
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