Microsoft Sovereign Cloud adds governance, productivity and support for large AI models securely running even when completely disconnected

Microsoft expanded its Sovereign Cloud to support governance, productivity and large artificial intelligence models running securely even when completely disconnected from external networks. The company released three major updates for organizations operating under strict sovereignty and regulatory requirements. Azure Local disconnected operations are now available and enable mission-critical infrastructure to run with Azure governance and policy controls in environments with no cloud connectivity. Microsoft 365 Local disconnected is now available and allows Exchange Server, SharePoint Server and Skype for Business Server to run fully inside the customer sovereign operational boundary on Azure Local, with support through at least 2035. Foundry Local adds capabilities for large AI models, allowing multimodal models to run locally on customer hardware inside sovereign boundaries with infrastructure from partners such as NVIDIA. Gerard Hoffmann, CEO of Proximus Luxembourg, said the availability of Azure Local disconnected operations represents a breakthrough for organizations that need control over their data without sacrificing the power of the Microsoft Cloud. The updates are available worldwide, with large models on Foundry Local available to qualified customers.