Microsoft takes on AI competitors with three basic models

Microsoft AI, the tech giant’s research lab, has announced the release of three basic types of AI Thursday that can create text, words, and pictures.

The release shows that Microsoft is continuing to push to develop its own multi-level AI models – and compete with AI labs – despite being tied to OpenAI.

MAI-Transcribe-1 transcribes text in 25 different languages ​​and is 2.5 times faster than Microsoft’s Azure Fast offering, according to the company’s press release. MAI-Voice-1 is a voice generator. This voice mode allows users to create 60 seconds of voice in one second and allows users to create a custom voice. MAI-Image-2 is an image processing model.

MAI-Picture-2 was originally released on MAI Playgrounda new test program for the language model, on March 19. Now, all three models are released on Microsoft Foundry and scripts and voice samples are also available at MAI Playground.

The samples were made by Microsoft’s MAI Superintelligence Groupan AI research group led by Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI, which was created and announced in November 2025.

“At Microsoft AI, we are building Humanist AI. We have a different approach to building our AI models – putting people at the center, improving how people communicate, training to use,” Suleyman wrote. blog post. “You’ll see more examples from us soon in Foundry and directly in Microsoft products.”

In the ever-expanding LLM market, MAI expects these outlets to be cheaper than those of Google and OpenAI, the company wrote in a blog post.

MAI-Transcribe-1 starts at $0.36 per hour. MAI-Voice-1 starts at $22 per 1 million characters, and MAI-Image-2 starts at $5 per 1 million characters for text and $33 per 1 million characters for image output.

Although he released his versions, Suleyman also confirmed Microsoft’s commitment to its partnership with OpenAI in interview with VentureBeat – although the recent renegotiation of the contract allowed Microsoft to pursue this technological research, Suleyman told The Verge.

Microsoft has invested more than $13 billion in AI research lab and has samples of its various products through multi-year partnerships. Microsoft does the same with chips; both produce their own and also buy from foreign players.