Microsoft announces its first in-house developed image generation AI model, 'MAI-Image-1'
Microsoft AI, the company's AI division, has announced its first image generation model, MAI-Image-1 , which Microsoft calls 'the next step in our journey.'
Introducing MAI-Image-1, debuting in the top 10 on LMArena | Microsoft AI
Microsoft AI announces first image generator created in-house | The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/news/798923/microsoft-ai-image-generator-in-house
Microsoft AI announced its first in-house developed voice generation AI, 'MAI-Voice-1 AI,' and its underlying model, 'MAI-1-preview,' in August 2025. MAI-Image-1 follows on from these in-house models and is positioned as the next step in the company's AI development.
Microsoft announces its first in-house voice generation AI 'MAI-Voice-1 AI' and its base model 'MAI-1-preview' - GIGAZINE
MAI-Image-1 excels at generating realistic, real-world images, including reproducing lighting including reflected light from objects, and generating landscape photos. Microsoft claims that it is faster and of higher quality than other large, slower models, allowing users to more quickly shape ideas on screen and iterate quickly.
Below is an example of an image generated by MAI-Image-1, as presented by Microsoft. However, the text prompt entered during generation has not been disclosed. The image shows the words 'MAI-Image-1' carved into the sand of a beach, and the exquisite colors of the sunset and sky reflected on the water's surface are generated with high accuracy.
This backlit photo of a man walking down the street perfectly captures the shadow at his feet, the emphasis on the outlines of his hair and clothes, and the blurred areas of the building in the distance that are obscured by the backlight.
A bird walking through the desert. Shadows and dust particles are so well-depicted that you wouldn't even realize it was an AI-generated photo unless you were told.
Microsoft states that the goal of developing MAI-Image-1 is to 'provide true value to creators.' During the development process, feedback from creative industry experts was incorporated to avoid a generic, uniform style of output. Data selection was rigorous, and emphasis was placed on evaluation based on actual use cases in production environments.
MAI-Image-1 is ranked in the top 10 on LMArena , an AI benchmarking site where humans compare the output of various systems and vote for the best models.
According to Microsoft, MAI-Image-1 is currently being tested on LMArena and will be available in Copilot and Bing Image Creator in the future.
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