Microsoft And Perplexity Integrate DeepSeek AI Into Their Platforms

Microsoft and Perplexity have integrated the Chinese startup DeepSeek’s AI model into their platforms. Perplexity is using DeepSeek’s latest R1 model in its search platform, and Microsoft is using it on its Azure AI Foundry platform.

Not long after Perplexity’s CEO Aravind Srinivas congratulated DeepSeek for reaching first place on Apple’s App Store in the United States on the social media platform X this Monday, Perplexity made major updates adopting the Chinese open-source AI model.

Perplexity announced a few hours later that Pro level users could access DeepSeek’s R1 model through their platform, offering an “uncensored” version—as many users have revealed that the Chinese model avoids responses that could affect the Chinese government, including historical events—and with data hosted in the United States.

Throughout the week, the American startup has been updating its mobile applications to include DeepSeek’s technology and expanding the limits of use, including a few queries for free users.

Also we’re going to buy more capacity to keep serving DeepSeek R1 in American data centers! Those shorting NVDA are shortsighted. The proliferation of search agents and assistants that can reason has just begun! 🇺🇸

— Aravind Srinivas (@AravSrinivas) January 27, 2025

Microsoft has also joined the DeepSeek inclusion movement—despite currently investigating whether the Chinese company accessed its partner OpenAI’s technology without permission—and has added DeepSeek R1 to Azure AI Foundry today.

“DeepSeek R1 is now available in the model catalog on Azure AI Foundry and GitHub, joining a diverse portfolio of over 1,800 models, including frontier, open-source, industry-specific, and task-based AI models,” wrote Asha Sharma, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft’s AI Platform in the official announcement. “As part of Azure AI Foundry, DeepSeek R1 is accessible on a trusted, scalable, and enterprise-ready platform, enabling businesses to seamlessly integrate advanced AI while meeting SLAs, security, and responsible AI commitments—all backed by Microsoft’s reliability and innovation.”

Microsoft added that customers will soon be able to use lighter versions of the DeepSeek R1 model on their Copilot+ PCs without needing an internet connection.