Releasesby Glyph[Launched] Generally available: Anthropic Claude Sonnet 5 on Azure Databricks
Azure Databricks now supports Anthropic Claude Sonnet 5 through Azure Databricks AI Model Serving. Claude Sonnet 5 is Anthropic's most agentic Sonnet model to date, delivering near-Opus-level intelligence with Sonnet's cost efficiency and speed. Designed
Also shipped Jul 2, 2026Microsoft in July 2026 →
VARIANT data type on Delta Direct tables (General availability)
With this release, Snowflake supports the VARIANT data type on Iceberg tables created from Delta table files in object storage (Delta Direct). When your Delta tables include variant columns, Snowflake maps them to the Snowflake VARIANT data type. You can query semi-structured data using VARIANT functions and dot or bracket notation.
Metadata-based sensitive data classification recommendations (Public Preview)
Snowflake is rolling out metadata-based sensitive data classification recommendations in Snowsight to help you identify databases that are likely to contain sensitive data and enable classification with one click.
Lakeflow Connect row filtering is now generally available
Row filtering in Lakeflow Connect is now generally available. Row filtering allows you to ingest only the rows you need by applying conditions similar to a SQL WHERE clause, improving performance and minimizing data duplication.
Genie One enhancements and bug fixes
- Ontology snippets (Public Preview) : Genie One now supports ontology snippets. This feature is in Public Preview. Contact your Databricks account team to sign up. See Genie Ontology . Document edit timestamps : Documents now show the date and time they were last edited. See Documents in Genie One . Links in documents : Documents now support links.
Genie Agent (formerly Genie Space) enhancements
- Agent mode is generally available : Agent mode in Genie Agents (formerly Genie Spaces) is now generally available. Agent mode uses multi-step reasoning to answer complex, exploratory questions with a report that includes citations, visualizations, and supporting tables. See Genie Agents concepts .
agent-memory-2026-07-22 beta header changes memory store listing behavior
With the new header, listing memories returns a stable server-defined order, depth accepts only 0 or 1, and path_prefix must end with / and match whole segments. Page cursors issued without the header are not valid with it.
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[Launched] Generally Available: New Powershell module: Az.PostgreSQLFlexibleServer
We’re excited to introduce the newly renamed Az.PostgreSQLFlexibleServer PowerShell module, delivering a more streamlined experience for you to manage Azure Database for PostgreSQL with PowerShell. Building on the capabilities of the previous Az.PostgreSq
[Launched] Generally Available: Network Security Perimeter support for Azure Event Hubs
Azure Event Hubs now supports Network Security Perimeter (NSP), enabling organizations to define a logical network isolation boundary for PaaS resources and control public network access through perimeter-based access rules.With Network Security Perimeter
[Launched] Generally Available: Confidential Computing support for Azure Event Hubs Dedicated
Azure Event Hubs Dedicated now supports Confidential Computing, enabling organizations to protect streaming data while it is being processed in memory. By leveraging hardware-based trusted execution environments (TEEs), customers can help safeguard sensit
[Launched] Generally Available: Open AI GPT-5.6 on Azure Databricks
Open AI GPT-5.6 is now available on Azure Databricks. You can use GPT 5.6 (purchased on Microsoft Foundry) via Model Serving Endpoint in Azure Databricks. Through integrations across Foundry and Azure Databricks, you can securely build, deploy, and manage
[Launched] Generally Available: Azure Databricks SQL Serverless in UK West
Starting July 13th, 2026, customers can use Azure Databricks SQL Serverless in the UK West region to simplify analytics workloads while benefiting from instant compute, automated scaling, and reduced infrastructure management. Eligible UK West workspaces
[In preview] Public Preview: Azure SQL updates for mid-July 2026
In mid-July 2026, the following updates and enhancements were made to Azure SQL: Shortcut Configuration lets you customize keyboard shortcuts for Quick Queries, the Results Grid, and the Query Editor directly within Visual Studio Code, wit
[Launched] Generally Available: Microsoft Defender security assessments for Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server
Microsoft Defender Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) assessments for Azure Database for PostgreSQL Flexible Server are now generally available. You can use assessments to continuously evaluate the security posture of your Azure PostgreSQL flexible
[Launched] Generally Available: Claude Opus 5 on Azure Databricks
Azure Databricks now supports Anthropic Claude Opus 5 through AI Model Serving. Claude Opus 5 is Anthropic's latest model for advanced reasoning, coding, agentic workflows, and professional knowledge work. Claude Opus 5 is designed for complex tasks requi