Glossary · AI & Agents
Azure OpenAI
Overview
What Azure OpenAI is
Azure OpenAI Service is Microsoft's managed way to use OpenAI's models inside the Azure cloud. It offers the same core models found in the OpenAI API, including GPT-4o, reasoning models, and text embeddings, but delivered through Azure's identity, billing, and governance. That makes it a common choice for enterprises that already run on Microsoft and need models under their existing cloud controls.
Enterprise features
The main reason to choose Azure OpenAI over the direct OpenAI API is governance. It adds role-based access control, private networking, regional data residency, and compliance certifications common in regulated industries. Importantly, Microsoft states that prompts and outputs are not used to train the underlying models and are not shared with OpenAI, which matters for teams handling sensitive or proprietary data.
How a team uses it
For businesses, Azure OpenAI is the foundation for RAG development and AI consulting projects that must meet security and compliance rules. A full-service team combines it with a vector database and a company's documents to build knowledge assistants, then keeps data inside the client's Azure tenant. This lets regulated organizations adopt generative AI without moving data outside approved boundaries.
Where we use it
Related Zen in Tech services
How our team puts Azure OpenAI to work in real projects.
FAQ
Azure OpenAI — common questions
Azure OpenAI vs OpenAI API: what's the difference?
Both give access to OpenAI models. The OpenAI API is billed and managed by OpenAI directly, while Azure OpenAI runs inside Microsoft Azure with enterprise identity, private networking, compliance certifications, and Azure billing, making it the choice for organizations standardized on Microsoft.
Does Azure OpenAI use my data to train models?
No. Microsoft states that data submitted to Azure OpenAI, including prompts and outputs, is not used to train OpenAI's models and is not shared with OpenAI. This is a key reason enterprises pick it for sensitive workloads.
How much does Azure OpenAI cost?
Azure OpenAI is priced mainly by tokens processed, with rates that vary by model, plus options like provisioned throughput for predictable capacity. Total cost depends on which models you use and your request volume.
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