Microsoft closes Azure subscription for individuals to access OpenAI in mainland China

 


Microsoft on Monday closed individual OpenAI subscriptions in mainland China via its Azure cloud-computing platform, which had been the only legitimate way for such users to access the ChatGPT creator’s services, months after the American start-up blocked its application programming interface (API) in “unsupported countries and territories”.

The restriction on individual users was made “due to local regulatory requirements”, which means “only enterprise customers are eligible to subscribe to Azure OpenAI Service”, according to an email Microsoft sent to its cloud users that was seen by the South China Morning Post.

The Azure OpenAI Service has been widely used by local developers to legitimately access the US firm’s API and connect their own services to the artificial intelligence (AI) powerhouse’s various technologies, including its flagship GPT-4o model. APIs are the software intermediary that allows different systems to communicate and share data or features with each other.
Microsoft, a major investor in OpenAI, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday The action taken by Microsoft means the “only legitimate method” for individuals to access OpenAI’s API in China has been blocked, according to JetSquirrel.cloud, a user of social media platform Xiaohongshu, where he shared the email about the Azure restriction.

He could still use Azure for work via his enterprise account, but his personal AI research would have to rely on domestic alternatives, which are “cheaper and have faster web connection”, the user wrote. Another independent developer said workarounds to the Azure restriction include certain third-party platforms that do not require personal identification and simply going to the OpenAI website to get the API by using a virtual private network, a foreign phone number and a foreign bank card.

The Azure restriction marks a further tightening to OpenAI access on the mainland, which opens a path for local developers to increasingly adopt local large language models (LLMs) for their projects. LLMs are the technology underpinning generative AI services, such as ChatGPT. On July 9, OpenAI started restricting access to its API in mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau. Other unsupported markets include US-sanctioned states such as Iran, North Korea and Russia.

Following the Azure restriction, brokerage firm China Industrial Securities said in a research note on Sunday that investors should consider buying shares of Chinese LLM developers like Kunlun Tech. “We firmly believe that as AI-generated content technology continues to iterate, more viral AI products will emerge in the future,” the firm said.

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