Since ChatGPT launched in November 2022, individuals and businesses have been using it to summarize text, create new content, think up new ideas, and even write code.
As the service began to amass millions of active monthly users, rumors started circulating about Microsoft’s involvement with the company behind ChatGPT, OpenAI. Since then, Microsoft is reported to have invested billions in the company and artificial intelligence has been making its way into numerous products and services.
This partnership has now taken a significant step forward, as Microsoft will be integrating ChatGPT directly into its Azure OpenAI Service, extending its reach to millions of customers through the large number of companies that use Azure.
ChatGPT in Azure
It’s important to note that ChatGPT is currently in preview in Azure OpenAI Service, and full general availability may be some time off yet with future adjustments to services and pricing both possible and indeed likely. For now, though, it’s priced at $0.002 per 1,000 tokens.
Microsoft hopes that its Azure customers will use the AI chatbot to integrate into their own experiences and applications, such as enhancing existing bots, summarizing calls and meetings, creating new marketing material, and automating claims processes.
For anybody still unsure how AI can benefit their business, Microsoft cites some third parties in a blog post (opens in new tab) who have experienced enhancements, as well as some of its own services including GitHub Copilot, Teams Premium, Viva Sales, and Bing.
Overall, Microsoft’s hope with Azure OpenAI Service is to democratize artificial intelligence and get it into the hands of as many customers as possible, however some argue that the global rollout has been too slow with too much of an emphasis on certain parts of the world, likely due to how difficult it is to deliver low-latency AI on a large scale.
