Azure AI Assistant - 'Browse' / Web Search functionality still on roadmap?

Question

Dear support

I created an Azure AI Assistant, and was looking for web search functionalities.

In following blog (from May) I saw that this was planned for July 2024, listed as an assistant tool named Browse: https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/azure-ai-services-blog/announcing-azure-openai-service-assistants-public-preview-refresh/4143217?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Is this functionality still on the roadmap? Or was this scrapped?

Best regards

Answer 1

As of November 2024, the 'Browse' tool for Azure AI Assistants, which enables web search capabilities, is still in public preview.

Initially announced in May 2024 with an expected release in July 2024, the tool has been available for developers to test and integrate into their AI assistants.

To incorporate the 'Browse' tool into your Azure AI Assistant, you can enable it through the Azure AI Studio or via the Assistants API.This functionality allows your assistant to perform real-time web searches, providing up-to-date information in response to user queries.

For detailed guidance on setting up and utilizing the 'Browse' tool, please refer to the official Azure AI Assistants documentation.This resource offers comprehensive instructions and best practices to effectively implement web search capabilities in your assistant.

If you encounter any issues or have further questions, feel free to reach out for additional support. Links to help you :

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/azure-ai-services-blog/announcing-azure-openai-service-assistants-public-preview-refresh/4143217?utm_source=chatgpt.com

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/openai/how-to/code-interpreter?tabs=python

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/openai/assistants-reference?tabs=python

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/ai-services/openai/assistants-quickstart?tabs=command-line%2Cjavascript-keyless%2Ctypescript-keyless&pivots=programming-language-ai-studio

Answer 2

Hi Vink Van den Bosch
Greetings, and welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum! Thank you for posting your query, and apologies for any inconvenience caused.
As of now, the Browse feature has not been released. Furthermore, there has been no recent official confirmation from Microsoft regarding when it is planned for release.

However, you can keep an eye on the Azure OpenAI Service release notes for updates on What's new in Azure OpenAI Service page will be updated accordingly with more details. Let us know if you have any additional questions or concerns!

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

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