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genai/news//Legal IT Insider
Microsoft has unveiled its first large language model called MAI-Thinking-1, which it says matches the performance of Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.6.
Microsoft unveiled its first large language model, MAI-Thinking-1, rivaling Anthropic's Claude Opus 4.6.
KEY POINTS
MAI-Thinking-1 and updated models will power Copilot, Bing, PowerPoint, and Azure Speech.
Microsoft introduced MAI-Code-1-Flash, which generates application code from written descriptions.
These models mark Microsoft's shift toward independently owning and commercializing AI, beyond OpenAI reliance.
Microsoft's model diversification strategy aims to reduce costs and deepen integration of governance and security.
Microsoft has unveiled its first large language model called MAI-Thinking-1, which it says matches the performance of Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.6 and which underpins its efforts to build frontier AI free from OpenAI.
The tech giant at its Microsoft Build conference in San Francisco yesterday (2 June) also unveiled an updated image generation model (MAI-Image-2.5); an updated multilingual text-to-speech model (MAI-Voice-2); and an updated speech-to-text model that supports 43 languages (MAI-Transcribe-1.5.). Together with MA1-Thinking-1, these are the same models powering Copilot, Bing, PowerPoint and Azure Speech, will all be available in Foundry for developers to build with.
And Microsoft unveiled MAI-Code-1-Flash, which takes written descriptions and generates the source code for applications and websites, otherwise referred to as vibe coding.
Mustafa Suleyman, CEO of Microsoft AI said that the new announcements “feel like this is a new era of AI that you control on your terms.”
For the past three years, Microsoft’s AI strategy has been closely associated with its multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI. While that relationship remains intact, in April, Microsoft and OpenAI announced a revised partnership designed to provide greater flexibility for both organisations and Microsoft had already begun to diversify by bringing Anthropic models to 365 Copilot.
Microsoft’s announcements yesterday underpin a strategy to develop AI models that it owns, controls and can commercialise independently. CEO Satya Nadella said: “We believe that times come for every company to just move from consuming a frontier model to fully participating at the frontier and the frontier ecosystem.”
This news may ultimately be good for end users from a cost perspective. Reuters has previously pointed out that Microsoft is diversifying to help bring costs down.
Microsoft’s emphasis on owning more of the underlying technology stack could allow it to integrate governance, security and auditability more deeply into Copilot and Azure-based legal AI solutions.
End users will want to be assured, however, that future legal workflows will continue to be able to switch between models and that this announcement provides more optionality, not less.