Microsoft announced that it is expanding its Azure OpenAI Service to interested customers with a limited access preview. Launched in 2021 as an addition to the Azure Cognitive Services family, Azure OpenAI Service was previously available only on an invitation basis. The service is a fully managed, enterprise-driven product that offers access to OpenAI’s API via Azure. With this release, the service is also offering more fine-tuning capabilities.
“One of the most interesting things is the variety of use cases that can be supported off of a single model,” said Eric Boyd, corporate vice president for Azure AI at Microsoft. “Azure OpenAI Service is really leading the way with these new large language models and giving customers the guarantees and promises in Azure that this is going to be reliable and secure, and their privacy will be protected as they explore this incredible frontier of what’s possible with these new technologies.”
The changes have been made with the help of InstructGPT, a group of GPT-3-based models that are less flawed and don’t generate text as problematic as its counterparts. Boyd used the example of one of their clients, CarMax, which uses these models to sift through, summarise and manage reviews of its cars. Boyd also noted that the service would be available only on a limited-access basis in the near future.
