Microsoft launches new in-house AI models it says cut costs up to 89% versus OpenAI

Microsoft expands its in-house AI push with new image and voice models

Microsoft announced MAI-Image-2.5-Pro and MAI-Voice-2-Flash, a voice model 2x faster and 32% cheaper than MAI-Voice-2 ($15/M characters), already deployed in Bing and Azure services. The in-house models reduce GPU costs by up to 89% versus OpenAI alternatives, signaling Microsoft's strategy to consolidate AI workloads on Azure and reduce external API dependency.