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DataStax, the generative AI data company, has announced the launch of Astra Vectorize, a new feature that performs embedding generations on the server side.

The Astra Vectorize launch includes new integrations with OpenAI and Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to accelerate and simplify embedding generation for developers. These integrations allow organisations to compare different embedding models with just a couple of clicks, saving hours and days of development time.

Astra Vectorize is an addition to the Astra Data API that will allow users to provide raw, unstructured data—like a piece of text or an image—as a part of an insert, update, or vector search operation, and the vector embedding for that data will be automatically generated by Astra DB.

With this functionality, users get an improved developer experience by abstracting the complexity of embedding models from the application code, so that they can focus on the business logic of the application, rather than integrations with external systems.

“One of the frequent questions we hear from developers is around how to generate embeddings in a more simplified and cost-effective way. It’s clearly a pain point,” said Ed Anuff, Chief Product Officer at DataStax. “With Astra Vectorize, the process is significantly simplified because embedding generation is happening at the database layer—where indexing has always traditionally occurred—leaving developers free to focus on actual application logic, rather than the intricacies of vector embeddings.”

Astra Vectorize to Provide Enhanced Capabilities for Azure OpenAI

The Astra Vectorize native integration with Azure OpenAI provides customers with the security capabilities of Microsoft Azure while running the same models as OpenAI. Azure OpenAI offers private networking, regional availability, and responsible AI content filtering. Astra Vectorize also integrates directly with OpenAI, providing out-of-the-box embedding generation services for both platforms.

“Vectorize represents the latest milestone in our partnership with DataStax, building on a longstanding relationship and multiple Microsoft and Azure integrations like Marketplace, Security, Fabric/PowerQuery, and Semantic Kernel,” Asha Sharma, CVP, Product, Azure AI, at Microsoft. “By simplifying the integration of Azure OpenAI Service into the DataStax RAG architecture, Vectorize streamlines embedding generation, reaffirming our joint commitment to empowering developers with advanced AI capabilities.”

“Since beginning our testing with Vectorize, we’ve been impressed with the results,” said Ivan Koval, CEO at TechMove AS. “In just a short time, we’ve successfully created collections, loaded datasets, and executed queries, all yielding highly relevant results. This efficiency is promising for streamlining our processes and enhancing our overall workflow.”

For more information, check out the Astra Vectorize blog post.

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