Microsoft Explores Alternatives to OpenAI in AI Strategy Shift

The tech giant is developing its own AI models and testing third-party options as tensions with OpenAI grow.

Microsoft is accelerating efforts to reduce reliance on OpenAI by developing in-house AI models and testing alternatives from companies like Meta, Anthropic, and xAI.
The company has trained a family of AI models, internally referred to as MAI, which reportedly perform comparably to OpenAI's leading models on standard benchmarks.
Microsoft is considering offering its MAI models to developers through an API later this year, though this remains unconfirmed.
Tensions between Microsoft and OpenAI have increased, with OpenAI declining to share technical details of its models and Microsoft listing OpenAI as a competitor in some areas.
Microsoft's AI division, led by Mustafa Suleyman, is focusing on advanced reasoning models and exploring cost-saving measures for its AI products like Microsoft 365 Copilot.