Microsoft has announced the addition of DeepSeek’s R1 AI model to its Azure AI Foundry platform and GitHub. This integration allows Microsoft customers to easily incorporate the R1 model into their AI applications. R1 has been making headlines this week due to its ability to be trained at a fraction of the cost compared to leading AI models, such as those from OpenAI.
DeepSeek’s R1 model claims to be a cost efficient model. Unlike other AI models that rely heavily on expensive chips from companies like Nvidia, its makers say that R1 requires far fewer resources, making it cheaper to train. This has raised concerns among investors, leading to a significant drop in Nvidia’s market value – by nearly $600 billion – following news of R1’s success.
One of the key advantages of using the DeepSeek R1 model on Azure AI Foundry is how quickly developers can experiment and integrate AI into their projects. Asha Sharma, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of AI platform, emphasized the speed at which R1 enables AI development. Additionally, the model has undergone thorough safety reviews, including automated checks and red teaming, ensuring that potential risks are mitigated before being used in applications.
Initially released as an open-source model earlier this month, DeepSeek’s R1 is now available through Microsoft’s platforms for easy integration. Microsoft is also working on a smaller, distilled version of R1, which will be available to run locally on Copilot Plus PCs. This will allow users to deploy the model without needing cloud resources, further increasing accessibility.
The integration of DeepSeek’s R1 model into Microsoft’s platforms is just the beginning. With its ability to train AI models more affordably, R1 is poised to change how AI is developed, making it more accessible and cost-effective for a broader range of users. As this technology continues to evolve, it could lead to a shift in how AI applications are built and deployed, disrupting the current market dynamics.
