Inference API

An Inference API is a network-accessible service that runs AI models on behalf of clients — exposing trained models through REST or streaming endpoints so applications can use AI without managing model infrastructure. Major inference APIs include OpenAI's API, Anthropic's API, Google AI Studio and Vertex AI, AWS Bedrock, Azure AI Foundry, Cohere API, Mistral La Plateforme, Together AI, Fireworks AI, Replicate, Modal, Anyscale Endpoints, Groq Cloud, Hugging Face Inference Endpoints, and the increasingly capable inference APIs at smaller providers. APIs typically expose: text completion or chat (streaming and non-streaming), embeddings, vision, audio (TTS, ASR), image generation, and function calling/tool use. Pricing is typically per-token (LLMs) or per-second (vision/audio). The inference-API category has become one of the largest AI software markets — OpenAI alone reportedly exceeded $10B+ annual revenue. AI governance, AI compliance, and AI risk management programs treat inference APIs as vendor relationships requiring security review, data-handling commitments, and ongoing monitoring supporting responsible AI through formal third-party-AI vendor management.

Centralpoint Sits Above Every Inference API: Oxcyon's Centralpoint AI Governance Platform brokers calls to OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, AWS Bedrock, Azure AI, and embedded models — all behind a single governance layer. Centralpoint meters consumption, keeps prompts and skills on-prem, and embeds chatbots into your portals via one JavaScript line.


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