Red Hat & Microsoft partner to enhance AI on Azure

Red Hat has announced a partnership with Microsoft to enhance the deployment of artificial intelligence and generative AI on Microsoft Azure.

Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI (RHEL AI) will become available on the Azure Marketplace, designed to optimise and validate a foundation model platform suitable for Azure environments. This move allows businesses to bring their own subscription as a flexible option for these deployments.

The collaboration is intended to support the shifting needs of companies that are increasingly adopting AI-driven business models. RHEL AI aims to provide the necessary consistency and scalability across hybrid cloud environments to facilitate seamless AI integration.

RHEL AI leverages open source licensed Granite models and InstructLab tooling to encourage gen AI development and deployment. This platform allows enterprises to align their models with private data and specific use cases while also providing a pathway to Red Hat OpenShift AI for large-scale tuning and serving.

The availability of RHEL AI continues a history of collaboration between Red Hat and Microsoft, which seeks to empower organisations to harness open source developments to meet diverse business requirements.

Joe Fernandes, Vice President and General Manager of AI Business Unit at Red Hat, expressed commitment to organisational agility in the AI sector. "Red Hat is committed to helping organizations remain agile in today's AI-dominated industry while also keeping an eye on needs of the future by providing an adaptable, enterprise-grade AI platform. RHEL AI on Microsoft Azure empowers organizations to scale gen AI deployments with greater confidence and flexibility to act quickly on the opportunities that AI presents for their business today, and paving the way for the next wave of innovation tomorrow."

Jake Zborowski, General Manager of Microsoft Azure Platform at Microsoft, praised the inclusion of RHEL AI in their marketplace. "We're pleased to welcome Red Hat Enterprise Linux AI to the Microsoft Azure Marketplace, which gives our partners great exposure to cloud customers around the globe. Azure Marketplace offers world-class quality experiences from global trusted partners with solutions tested to work seamlessly with Azure."

This offering joins previous AI-focused products on Microsoft Azure, such as Red Hat OpenShift AI and Azure Red Hat OpenShift, reflecting ongoing joint efforts by the two companies to deliver cloud-based solutions.

RHEL AI on Microsoft Azure will be accessible from the Azure Marketplace starting December 2024.