Does Azure Open AI Service have restriction on which countries end users can access from?

Question

Does Azure Open AI Service have restriction on which countries end users can access from?

翔子吉岡 0

We are building a solution for Japanese enterprise with Azure Open AI Service (via API).

The original ChatGPT and API by OpenAI mentions "Supported countries and territories" as a sort of restriction as below,

https://platform.openai.com/docs/supported-countries/supported-countries-and-territories

We checked documents about Azure, but there isn't similar condtions as far as we checked so far.

Does Azure Open AI Service have restriction on which countries end users can access from, just like OpenAI's terms and condition? If yes, where can we get these mentions?

0 comments

1 answer

Your answer

Answer 1

AshokPeddakotla-MSFT 36,021 Moderator

翔子吉岡 Greetings & Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum!

Does Azure Open AI Service have restriction on which countries end users can access from, just like OpenAI's terms and condition? If yes, where can we get these mentions?

Please note that, Azure OpenAI provides access to many different models, grouped by family and capability. A model family typically associates models by their intended task. The following table describes model families currently available in Azure OpenAI. Not all models are available in all regions currently.

User's image

I would suggest you, please check Model Summary table and region availability for more details.

What's new in Azure OpenAI Service page provides the latest updates and new addition of region availability.
Also, see Azure OpenAI Service frequently asked questions and Azure Open AI Region availability.

Hope this helps. Do let us know if you have any further queries.

If this answers your query, do click Accept Answer and Yes for was this answer helpful. And, if you have any further query do let us know.

翔子吉岡 0 Reputation points

2023-06-19T05:03:55.0566667+00:00

Thank you for your advise!

Let me make sure, since I’m not sure if this（Model Summary table and region availability） is AtoA correspondence with open AI regulations regarding end-user access, is this statement about end-user access?

Your views on this point would be greatly appreciated.
AshokPeddakotla-MSFT 36,021 Reputation points Moderator

2023-06-21T06:10:49.0266667+00:00

Let me make sure, since I’m not sure if this（Model Summary table and region availability） is AtoA correspondence with open AI regulations regarding end-user access, is this statement about end-user access?

The statements stands to true for availability of Model deployments. Azure OpenAI Service does not have any restrictions on which countries end users can access from. Access can be restricted by rules of certain countries but that is a local government policy rather than we defining them.

Hope this clarifies. Do let us know if you have any further queries. Happy to assist!
翔子吉岡 0 Reputation points

2023-06-21T06:37:13.61+00:00

Thank you very much for your advice!
AshokPeddakotla-MSFT 36,021 Reputation points Moderator

2023-06-21T08:10:49.11+00:00

翔子吉岡 You are welcome!

If the suggestions answers your query, do click Accept Answer and Yes for was this answer helpful. And, if you have any further query do let us know.
Raghu Ram R 1 Reputation point

2023-07-19T07:17:06.08+00:00

can we have on which countries azure open ai can be accessed? which countries it is restricted. Is openai restrictions also applied to azureopenai
Arun Kumar 0 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2023-07-24T18:26:45.9966667+00:00

@Raghuram - this was already answered in comments, that there are not country restrictions enforced by Azure.
DH 0 Reputation points

2023-09-12T13:16:16.87+00:00

I don't think the spirit of the original question has been answered yet. Regional availability in Azure is one thing. There are stories in the news about countries in Europe and in Asia banning AI services and potentially levying fines to Microsoft/Google/Others If an Azure OpenAI service API in East US is exposed to the public Internet and a "client" tries to access from one of these countries, does MICROSOFT block client IP blocks from the regions that are in contention? Does Microsoft have any policy, terms of use, assignment of responsibility/liability?
翔子吉岡 0 Reputation points

2023-09-14T02:54:28.95+00:00

Thank you for your comment.

I got the comment from MS through the other communication route on this topic as follows,

=========

Azure OpenAI Service does not uniformly deny access from IP addresses associated with specific countries or regions.

Basically, all accesses via the public Internet, i.e., from global IP addresses reachable on the Internet, are permitted.

On the other hand, actual availability is subject to certain country network restrictions (e.g., Great Firewall of China) and laws and regulations, as described below. We would appreciate your understanding that it is not possible for us to make a blanket statement on the actual availability of this service, as it is affected by network restrictions (e.g., Great Firewall of China) and laws and regulations in specific countries, as described below.

Since it depends on the domestic situation of the specific country, it is necessary for the customer to confirm the actual accessibility of the service on site.

=========

Share via

Does Azure Open AI Service have restriction on which countries end users can access from?

1 answer

Your answer