Azure AI & App Innovation Updates - May 2026

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By Lionel Gurret.

Introduction

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This article lists Azure updates for May 2026.

Updates

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AI + machine learning

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• [Launched]: Update: Microsoft Foundry built-in RBAC role naming and enhancements

Containers

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• [In preview]: Public Preview: Evaluate feature rollouts with Azure App Configuration Scorecards
• [In preview]: Public Preview: Azure Container Apps Express

DevOps

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• [Launched]: Generally Available: Application Insights Auto-instrumentation for Azure Kubernetes Service apps
• [Launched]: Generally Available: Azure Monitor dashboards with Grafana in Public, Government (Fairfax) and China

Compute

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• [In preview]: Public Preview: TLS/SSL certificate support for Azure Functions Flex Consumption
• [Launched]: Generally Available: SQL Server on Azure VMs in Malaysia West, Indonesia Central
• [Launched]: Generally Available: Azure Premium SSD v2 Disk is now available in all three available zones in Japan West
• [Launched]: Generally Available: Azure Dl/D/E v7 Virtual Machines
• [Launched]: Generally Available: Azure Functions durable task scheduler Consumption SKU

Networking

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• [Launched]: Generally Available: Application Gateway for Containers – Service Mesh integration with Istio
• [In preview]: Public Preview: Azure Virtual Network Manager integration with Virtual WAN
• [Launched]: Generally Available: User Groups and IP address pools for P2S connections
• [Launched]: Generally Available: site-to-site VPN connections with certificate authentication
• [Launched]: Generally Available: Azure Virtual Network Manager rule impact analyzer
• [In preview]: Public Preview: Application Gateway for Containers managed add-on + AKS Automatic

Management and governance

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• [In preview]: Public Preview: Azure Site Recovery Support for Performance Plus Managed Disks
• [Launched]: Generally Available: Virtual network flow logs connector with Microsoft Sentinel
• [Launched]: Generally Available: Network Watcher rule impact analyser
• [In preview]: Public Preview: Bulk Restore for Azure Virtual Machines using Azure Backup

Features

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• [Launched]: Generally Available: Multiparty private offers in Microsoft Marketplace expand to 30 countries in Europe
• [In preview]: Public Preview: Azure Event Grid Subscription Identifiers
• [Launched]: Generally Available: Azure Virtual Network updates – default limits increased for NSGs and route tables
• [Launched]: Generally Available: Auto activation for SaaS subscriptions in Microsoft Marketplace
• [Launched]: Generally Available: Azure Front Door WebSocket

Storage

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• [Launched]: Generally Available: Entra-only identities with Azure Files
• [Launched]: Generally Available: Azure NetApp Files object REST API
• [Launched]: Generally Available: Azure NetApp Files cache volumes
• [Launched]: Generally Available: Mock runs for Azure Storage Actions – Validate before you execute
• [Launched]: Generally Available: Azure Blob Storage SDK for Rust
• [Launched]: Generally Available: Support for workloads with large files in Azure NetApp Files
• [Launched]: Generally Available: Managed Identity Support for Azure Files SMB Is now GA
• [In preview]: Public Preview: Azure NetApp Files enable backup by default
• [Launched]: Generally Available: Azure Elastic SAN support for AVS Gen2 Private Cloud
• [Launched]: Generally Available: Single Volume Snapshots on Azure Elastic SAN
• [Launched]: Generally Available: AVS Support for AV64 SKU on Azure Elastic SAN

Mobile

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• [Launched]: Retirement: TLS 1.0 and TLS 1.1 in Azure App Service, Azure Functions, and Azure Logic Apps
• [Launched]: Generally Available: Cleanup legacy AlternateId usage to ensure continued service

Databases

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• [In preview]: Update: Microsoft Entra ID token refresh support for Python, .NET, and JavaScript in Azure Database for PostgreSQL
• [Launched]: Generally Available: langchain-azure-cosmosdb python package for Azure Cosmos DB
• [In preview]: Public Preview: Azure SQL update for early-May 2026
• [In preview]: Public Preview: Azure Cosmos DB Shell—your new command line for data workflows
• [In preview]: Public Preview: Azure Cosmos DB spherical quantization for improved vector search

Migration

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• [Launched]: Generally Available: Azure Storage Mover Blob-to-Blob migration
• [Launched]: Generally Available: Schedule one-time or recurring migrations with Azure Storage Mover

Hybrid + multicloud

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• [In preview]: Public Preview: Summarized advertised gateway prefixes for route advertisement
• [Launched]: Generally Available: Sentinel TI - improved pattern parsing & revoke reliability

Integration

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• [Launched]: Generally Available: Azure Event Grid releases for April 2026
• [Launched]: Update: 99.99% uptime for all Azure Service Bus Premium namespaces in Availability Zone regions
• [Launched]: Generally Available: Confidential computing for Azure Service Bus Premium

Azure AI Document Intelligence

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• [Launched]: Retirement: Azure Document Intelligence v3.0 API will be retired on March 30, 2029

Virtual Machines

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• Retirement: Retirement: Azure Reserved Virtual Machines Instances for select VM series

Management

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• [Launched]: Update: Egress and data transfer with Azure in the United Kingdom

Sources

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https://azure.microsoft.com/ Microsoft Dev Blog Azure Website