ATLANTA — Would it surprise you to know that Red Hat‘s latest OpenShift release, 4.20, comes with more AI features than ever? No, I thought not.
Red Hat officially announced the general availability...
ATLANTA — Would it surprise you to know that Red Hat‘s latest OpenShift release, 4.20, comes with more AI features than ever? No, I thought not.
Red Hat officially announced the general availability of OpenShift 4.20 at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2025. This release targets enterprises accelerating their AI adoption, tightening platform security, and pursuing robust hybrid cloud and virtualization strategies.
Starting with the AI features, the new OpenShift comes ready to streamline the deployment and management of complex AI and ML workloads. Central to this release is the LeaderWorkerSet (LWS) API. This enables organizations to orchestrate and scale distributed AI workloads more efficiently.
AI Features and Capabilities in OpenShift 4.20
Additionally, with Runtime Image Volume Source for AI Models, Red Hat promises that production teams can now add or swap AI/ML models into applications within minutes, without needing to rebuild containers. This significantly speeds up experimentation and production migration as your company attempts to keep pace with the latest and greatest models.
To no one’s surprise, OpenShift now supports Model Context Protocol (MCP). At this point, a better question might be who doesn’t support MCP? It has emerged as the de facto open standard for connecting AI agents with external data and services. As. Adel Zaalouk, Red Hat’s AI product manager, told The New Stack, “MCP is a powerful standard, but its value is most apparent in complex, high-stakes environments. A key benefit of MCP is its ability to enable scalable, multitenant platforms.”
It also comes with multicluster support for Red Hat OpenShift Lightspeed. Lightspeed is a suite of AI-powered tools that simplify and automate tasks across various Red Hat products. On OpenShift, it shows up as a generative AI-based virtual assistant. With it, you can use natural language to ask OpenShift questions and get step-by-step guidance within the OpenShift web console.
Enhanced Security and Digital Sovereignty
The new OpenShift isn’t just about AI. Far from it! Security is a major focus. Red Hat Advanced Cluster Security 4.9 is now generally available. Additionally, the Red Hat Trusted Artifact Signer and Profile Analyzer, tools that help customers manage and monitor their cluster security, have both been improved.
Red Hat is also addressing emerging interest in digital sovereignty by enabling expanded in-house control over application and data placement. There are also new capabilities, such as bring-your-own OpenID Connect identity provider integration and initial support for post-quantum cryptography in platform traffic.
You can also now use an External Secrets Operator (ESO) to manage application secrets securely from external vaults, such as HashiCorp Vault.
The built-in OpenShift Virtualization also comes with a significant upgrade. It now includes CPU load-aware rebalancing and ARM architecture support for virtualized workloads.. Hybrid cloud support now stretches to bare-metal deployments on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Finally, enhanced migration toolkits streamline the route from legacy virtual machines (VMs) to OpenShift-based virtual environments, leveraging existing storage resources for swift transitions.
Red Hat’s Vision for OpenShift 4.20
Put it all together, and Mike Barrett, Red Hat’s vice president and general manager for Hybrid Cloud Platforms at Red Hat, said at KubeCon, “The pace of innovation in enterprise IT is accelerating, driven by the demands of AI and a shifting landscape caused by new regulations and corporations needing to mix sovereignty into their technology investments. With Red Hat OpenShift 4.20, we are delivering a foundation that not only keeps pace with these changes but helps our customers lead them.”
The brand-spanking new OpenShift is now available. If your company is already an OpenShift user and interested in AI, this latest release is a no-brainer. It’s time to download it and take a look. It promises to be a “must” upgrade.
The post Red Hat OpenShift 4.20 Boosts AI, Security, Hybrid Cloud appeared first on The New Stack.
