Whisper model not available in Germany region; need WebSocket for GPT-4o

Question

Hello Azure OpenAI Support,

We are developing a healthcare application and are subject to strict DIPA/GDPR requirements. All patient data must be processed and stored exclusively within Germany.

1. Whisper Model in Germany:

We need to use the Whisper model for multilingual speech recognition and automatic language detection. However, when attempting deployment, Germany regions are not available (e.g., Germany West Central, Germany North).

It is critical for us to be able to deploy Whisper in a Germany data center for regulatory compliance, and this limitation is blocking our healthcare application for German users.

Please enable deployment or provide quota for Whisper in Germany West Central or Germany North.

2. WebSocket Access for GPT-4o:

Additionally, we require WebSocket API access to GPT-4o (instead of REST API) to achieve low-latency, real-time interaction in our conversational AI application.

Is it possible to provide or enable WebSocket endpoints for GPT-4o on Azure OpenAI? If yes, please advise on the process or expected timeline.

Our details:

• Azure Subscription ID: e839380d-3c7e-4f82-a0bd-81e4c87a1a1c
• Resource Group: abadis-ai-rg
• Tenant/Directory ID: 3e519ca9-78a5-4419-93cf-6d5d991f7c72
• Region of current deployment: Germany West Central

Thank you for your support and looking forward to your urgent response.

Best regards,

Abadis Team

Email: ******@gmail.com

Answer 1

Hello abadis,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A and thank you for posting your questions here.

Regarding your issues:

Whisper Model not available in Germany West Central

As of now, Whisper is not available in Germany West Central or Germany North in Azure OpenAI. You can check available models by region: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/openai/concepts/models#region-availability

• You have some of the workaround options to: Deploy Whisper in a nearby region e.g., West Europe. Use Private Link, VNet Integration, and Customer-Managed Keys CMK to enforce data protection and encryption at rest/transit. Ensure logs and backups are stored in German-compliant storage accounts.
• If the model must run in Germany, consider using confidential VMs with Whisper deployed in a container using ONNX or HuggingFace non-Azure OpenAI Whisper. Use tools like Whisper.cpp or OpenAI Whisper running in AKS + SGX-capable node pool.
• Submit a quota increase plus region request directly to Microsoft: - https://portal.azure.com/#blade/Microsoft_Azure_Support/HelpAndSupportBlade/newsupportrequest

WebSocket Access to GPT-4o

The fact is that Azure OpenAI does not currently support WebSocket access for text completions access to GPT-4o. Only REST endpoints are available. - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/openai/whats-newhttps://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/openai/whats-new

• Workaround options are to:

1. OpenAI's hosted version of GPT-4o supports WebSocket - https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/gpt/chat-websocketshttps://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/gpt/chat-websockets

• This violates DIPA/GDPR for German healthcare unless OpenAI hosts in the EU which they currently don’t.

2. Use GPT-4o with stream=true in REST endpoint. This allows token-by-token streaming, which is close to real-time. - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/openai/how-to/chatgpt?tabs=console#streaming-responses

So, submit support ticket to request Whisper model in Germany West Central: Azure Support Portal- https://portal.azure.com/#blade/Microsoft_Azure_Support/HelpAndSupportBlade/newsupportreques

• Explore deploying Whisper on Confidential VMs in Germany, if on-premises processing is critical.
• Use stream=true for GPT-4o chat completions in Azure to simulate WebSocket streaming.
• Follow Azure OpenAI Release Notes on - https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/openai/whats-new
• Reach out to Priority Customer Support - if you can.

I hope this is helpful! Do not hesitate to let me know if you have any other questions or clarifications.

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