Microsoft is developing its own artificial intelligence reasoning models to compete with OpenAI and may offer them to developers, according to a report by The Information.
The move signals Microsoft’s effort to diversify its AI strategy despite being a key investor in OpenAI.
The Redmond-based tech giant has reportedly begun testing AI models from xAI, Meta, and DeepSeek as potential alternatives to OpenAI’s technology in its Copilot assistant.
This follows earlier reports that Microsoft has been working to integrate both internal and third-party AI models into Microsoft 365 Copilot, aiming to reduce costs and reliance on OpenAI’s GPT-4.
Microsoft’s AI division, led by Mustafa Suleyman, has completed training a family of models known internally as MAI. These models reportedly perform at levels comparable to OpenAI and Anthropic on standard benchmarks.
The company is also developing reasoning models using chain-of-thought techniques, which could rival OpenAI’s capabilities in solving complex problems.
Microsoft is already testing the MAI models in Copilot, replacing OpenAI’s models in some cases. The company is considering making them available as an API later this year, allowing developers to integrate them into their own applications.
