Microsoft is rolling out its first internally developed AI models. Branded Microsoft AI (MAI), the two initial releases are MAI-Voice-1, a “highly expressive and natural speech generation model,” and MAI-1-preview, a mixture-of-experts LLM designed for consumer facing applications. The move demonstrates Microsoft’s intent to move beyond exclusive reliance on OpenAI models to power its Copilot assistant and other applications. By striking out on its own, Microsoft is paving a smoother road for OpenAI’s transition to a for-profit entity, which the company is scheduled to initiate by the end of the year. Continue reading Microsoft AI Introduces Proprietary Foundation, Voice Models

Elon Musk’s xAI has made Grok 4 available on its free tiers as it seeks to take advantage of initial user dissatisfaction with OpenAI’s new GPT-5. The company has positioned Grok as freewheeling and uncensored, a contrast to GPT-5, which has been criticized on Reddit and other social platforms as a “corporate beige zombie” with too many guardrails. After its February debut, Grok 3 was reined-in with checks including removal of its native image generator in March. Grok 4 was released in July with integrated image and video features as well as a “Spicy” mode for creating risqué content. Continue reading Grok 4 Offered Free in xAI Move on ChatGPT-5 Market Share