Microsoft Adds DeepSeek-R1 AI Model to Its Azure AI Foundry and GitHub

Microsoft added support for the recently released DeepSeek-R1 artificial intelligence (AI) model to its Azure AI Foundry and GitHub on Wednesday. The reasoning-focused AI model can now be accessed via these platforms. The Redmond-based tech giant also highlighted that it has conducted rigorous safety evaluations to ensure that the model is safe to use for both individual and commercial purposes. Additionally, the company is also bringing distilled versions of the R1 model to Copilot+ PC users via the AI Toolkit.

Microsoft Brings DeepSeek-R1 to Azure AI Foundry, GitHub

In a blog post, the tech giant announced that the DeepSeek-R1 AI model is now available in the model catalogue of Azure AI Foundry and GitHub. Notably, Azure AI Foundry is an enterprise-focused platform where developers can build, evaluate, and develop generative AI applications and custom copilots.

Making the announcement, Microsoft's Corporate Vice President of AI Platform, Asha Sharma said, “One of the key advantages of using DeepSeek R1 or any other model on Azure AI Foundry is the speed at which developers can experiment, iterate, and integrate AI into their workflows.”

The post also highlighted that the company conducted red teaming and safety evaluations on the R1 model, including automated assessment of model behaviour as well as extensive security reviews. Microsoft stated that it has ensured to mitigate potential risks. Azure AI Foundry also provides additional safety via its Content Safety filtering system and the Safety Evaluation System.

To use DeepSeek-R1, users can search for it in the model catalogue. After spotting it, they will have to open the model card and click on deploy. This will provide the user with the inference application programming interface (API) required to run the model.

Distilled DeepSeek-R1 Coming to Copilot+ PCs Users

In a separate post, Microsoft announced that it is bringing optimised versions of DeepSeek-R1 to Copilot+ PCs. These distilled versions will first arrive on the Snapdragon X-powered devices and later will be added to the Intel Core Ultra 200V chipset and others. The first model release will be the DeepSeek-R1-Distill-Qwen-1.5B model which can be accessed via the AI Toolkit. The 7B and 14B variants will be added later.