Microsoft Adds GPT-4o Support for Azure, Unveils Copilot AI Agents for Automation

Microsoft Build 2024 witnessed a large number of artificial intelligence (AI)-focused announcements from the company that spanned across Copilot, Azure cloud service, its data analytics platform Microsoft Fabric, and various other platforms. The keynote session of the event took place just a day after its Surface event which the unveiling of the Copilot+ PCs class and various integrated AI features for PCs. Now, expanding Azure, the tech giant has made GPT-4o, which was recently unveiled, generally available via its Azure OpenAI Service.

GPT-4o is now available via Azure

Microsoft's cloud computing platform Azure, which already offered a wide range of choice in large language models (LLMs), has now added support for GPT-4o continuing its partnership with OpenAI. Access to the recently unveiled AI model can be gained through the Azure OpenAI Service by anyone with an existing subscription to the cloud computing platform. The tech giant is also integrating GPT-4o's capabilities — emotive speech, real-time verbal responses, and computer vision — with Copilot.

A short demo shared by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella during the keynote session showcased Copilot assisting a user as they played a game of Minecraft. The AI chatbot was able to assist in real-time by answering questions and suggesting actions. Alongside, the company also shared various ways developers can use the AI model's capabilities to build unique tools.

Build your Copilot via Copilot Studio

AI agents, or mini chatbots, have become the new trend in the tech space recently. OpenAI was among the first to introduce GPTs which are chatbots that can perform a particular task and be built by providing a text prompt to ChatGPT. Following suit, Google also announced Gems at its I/O 2024 event last week. Now, Microsoft is letting businesses and developers build Copilot apps via a new platform dubbed Copilot Studio.

The most interesting part of Copilot AI agents is that they can function automatically, based on the instructions fed to them. This means there is no need to prompt a command for them to spring into action. It can be set to monitor emails or complete a data entry task. Just like other AI agents, it can also be built using simple text prompts in Copilot Studio. The platform is currently in preview with limited access, but it is expected to be made generally available soon.