Bloomberg (republished on Yahoo Finance): Microsoft Corp., looking to reduce AI costs, is starting to replace OpenAI and Anthropic with its own models in software products like Excel and Outlook.
Tens of thousands of AI prompts in Excel and Outlook are now completed each week with Microsoft’s internally built MAI models, according to a person familiar with the work (granted anonymity). Previously those apps relied more heavily on OpenAI and Anthropic. Scale of MAI usage in workplace products had not been previously reported. Microsoft spokesperson declined to comment.
MAI still accounts for a small share of overall AI usage, but shows progress toward competitive internal models at lower cost. In June, AI model chief Mustafa Suleyman said Microsoft was trying to reduce spending on Anthropic by using more MAI models.
Context: Microsoft consumes massive AI token volumes in Copilot and related products. Much currently obtained at a discount via long-standing OpenAI partnership, but that arrangement’s clock is ticking; Suleyman’s team aims to avoid paying whatever leading labs charge later.
At Build (June), Microsoft announced seven new AI models, including one claimed to match coding abilities of Anthropic Opus 4.6 at reduced cost. Suleyman: “We pay a lot of money to Anthropic — so our goal is to reduce and ultimately eliminate that cost.”
MAI models also available in GitHub Copilot. Microsoft-built transcription model expected in Teams and other products in coming months.
Related Decoder coverage: for Copilot/Office customers this could mean same price for weaker default AI; Nadella has hinted usage-based pricing where cheaper MAI is default and OpenAI/Anthropic are premium add-ons.
Primary: https://finance.yahoo.com/technology/ai/articles/microsoft-replaces-openai-anthropic-own-161946596.html
Related: https://the-decoder.com/copilot-goes-cheap-as-microsoft-phases-out-openai-and-anthropic-models-to-cut-costs/