Microsoft is developing its own AI reasoning models to compete with OpenAI.
There is also a speculation that they might sell them to developers.
As per Reuters, despite being a key supporter of OpenAI, Microsoft is exploring alternative AI models from companies like xAI, Meta and DeepSeek to potentially replace OpenAI's models in its Copilot product.
Microsoft wants to become less dependent on OpenAI, even though its early collaboration with the company helped it gain an advantage in the AI industry.
As per the outlet, Microsoft is working on adding both its own and third-party AI models to Microsoft 365 Copilot to reduce reliance on OpenAI and cut costs.
Initially, 365 Copilot was promoted for using OpenAI’s GPT-4 model when it launched in 2023.
Now, as per multiple reports, Microsoft's AI team, led by Mustafa Suleyman has created a set of AI models called MAI.
These models reportedly perform almost as well as top AI models from OpenAI and Anthropic, based on industry benchmarks.
In addition to this, Microsoft's AI team is developing reasoning models that use chain-of-thought techniques which help break down complex problems into steps to improve reasoning.
The team is already testing MAI models as a replacement for OpenAI’s models in Copilot.
