Microsoft Makes DeepSeek R1 Available on Azure and GitHub

DeepSeek R1 has been added to the Azure AI Foundry and GitHub model catalogue, expanding the platform’s AI portfolio. The model is now accessible for businesses looking to integrate advanced AI solutions while maintaining security and reliability standards.

Microsoft announced on its official blog that DeepSeek R1 is available on its enterprise-ready Azure AI Foundry platform, which supports over 1,800 models. 

“Bringing models like DeepSeek R1 to Azure AI Foundry allows businesses to scale AI-powered applications with speed and security,” said Asha Sharma, corporate vice president of AI Platform at Microsoft.

“Customers will soon be able to run DeepSeek R1’s distilled models locally on Copilot+ PCs, as well as on the vast ecosystem of GPUs available on Windows. Beyond Copilot+ PCs, the most powerful AI workstation for local development is a Windows PC running WSL2, powered by NVIDIA RTX GPUs,” said Microsoft chief Satya Nadella during the recent earnings call on Wednesday.

He further added that DeepSeek has introduced real innovations, some of which even OpenAI discovered in o1. “Now, of course, those innovations are becoming commoditised and will be widely used,” he said.

According to DeepSeek, R1 is a cost-efficient AI model that enables developers to incorporate AI capabilities with minimal infrastructure investment. Azure AI Foundry provides built-in model evaluation tools, allowing users to test, benchmark, and deploy AI applications efficiently.

Microsoft emphasised its commitment to AI safety and compliance. DeepSeek R1 has undergone red teaming, security reviews, and automated behaviour assessments. Azure AI Content Safety includes built-in content filtering, with options for users to opt out. The Safety Evaluation System helps businesses test AI applications before deployment.

To use DeepSeek R1, developers can search for the model in the Azure AI Foundry catalogue, access the model card, and deploy it to obtain an inference API and key. Users can test the model in a playground environment before integrating it into applications.

DeepSeek R1 is also available on GitHub, where developers can find additional resources and integration guides. Microsoft stated that future versions of the model would be available in distilled formats for local deployment on Copilot+ PCs.

This follows Microsoft and OpenAI’s investigation into whether the Chinese AI startup used OpenAI’s output to train its model. A recent report states that OpenAI has found evidence suggesting DeepSeek used its proprietary models to develop an open-source competitor, raising concerns about a possible intellectual property breach.