Microsoft has announced the launch of its new Azure OpenAI Service for public sector partners, including federal agencies and state governments. This new service unlocks access to generative artificial intelligence applications, such as the popular ChatGPT, which were previously only available to commercial cloud customers. Azure OpenAI Service will enable secure access to GPT-3, GPT-4, and Embeddings for public sector customers, as well as offer various advanced AI models and algorithms on the Azure Government cloud environment. Developers will also be able to access pre-trained GPT models, allowing for the speedy and easier deployment of AI-enabled applications. These could include content generation, summarization, search improvements, and code generation streamlining.
Bill Chappell, the CTO for Strategic Missions and Technologies at Microsoft, explained the new architecture that permits government agencies to access these large language models in the commercial environment from Azure Government, maintaining the required stringent security standards for cloud operations. Customers will pay for the new functionality consumption credits the same way they pay for other cloud-based Microsoft services.
As AI gains increasing attention, Congress and the White House are both engaged in driving its advancement. This May, President Joe Biden announced new guidance for agencies and invested $140 million in the launch of seven new national AI research institutes. The Biden administration is also investigating how companies may misuse AI, including for employee surveillance, and aims to enhance its existing AI framework for future regulations. Azure OpenAI Service comes at a critical turning point in this global conversation about the responsible application of AI.
