Microsoft joins AI race at last: two models mark its first move

"Microsoft's Copilot offering was made possible largely by a deal with early GenAI frontrunner OpenAI. The ChatGPT builder received $10 billion and, in exchange, gave Microsoft direct access to models such as GPT-4 and now GPT-5. This state of affairs always seemed to be a temporary solution for Microsoft, which has a lot of catching up to do in order to build its own state-of-the-art LLMs."

"Interestingly, Microsoft has chosen for its debut a model that generates voices. MAI-Voice-1 delivers AI-driven speech, up to a minute long in one demo, based on a simple prompt. In a Copilot Labs experience, the high-quality audio is particularly striking, but the exact implementation for a larger audience is still pending. Presumably, Microsoft hopes that users of AI PCs will turn on their microphones and start talking to Copilot."

"It is still too early to say, but we believe there is a good chance that Microsoft and Google will eventually expand this battleground as voice-driven assistants mature. Where Gemini on Android is already busy taking over the functionality of Google Assistant, a similar AI companion could be of service on Windows. The question is whether this really is preferable to text-driven communication with AI tools."

Microsoft created an in-house AI team in March 2024 to reduce reliance on OpenAI and compete with Google, Meta, Anthropic, and others. The first products are MAI-Voice-1 and a MAI-1 preview. Copilot relied on a $10 billion deal that gave Microsoft access to OpenAI models including GPT-4 and GPT-5, but relations have soured and OpenAI has sought to limit access. Microsoft appears to pursue autonomy and is prioritizing voice-generation for its debut. MAI-Voice-1 produces high-quality speech from simple prompts and targets AI PCs, while the broader debate persists over voice versus text interactions and expanding competition with Google.

Read at Techzine Global