Microsoft says its MAI-Image-2-Efficient AI model slashes costs by 41% while boosting speed by 22% (and maintaining quality)

At the beginning of this month, Microsoft unveiled a host of in-house AI models, including MAI-Transcribe-1, MAI-Voice-1 , and MAI-Image-2 with next-gen capabilities across transcription, voice, and image generation.

Now, the tech giant is lowering the cost for MAI-Image-2-Efficient while simultaneously making it faster. The company touts the tool as its "best text-to-image model" as it generates "photorealistic and expressive" images with reliable in-image text.

Microsoft says the model is now 22% faster and 4x more efficient, with 41% of the cost tipped off the scale. More specifically, it'll cost "$5 per 1M text input tokens, $19.50 per 1M image output."

MAI-Image-2-Efficient will seemingly be faster than its flagship model and 40% faster on average than hyperscaler models. Perhaps more interestingly, Microsoft has two separate text-to-image models: MAI-Image-2-Efficient and MAI-Image-2.

The company refers to the former as a production workhorse, which is the perfect option when you need "volume, speed, and tight cost control." The tool is great at generating product shots and UI mockups, primarily because it handles short-form text like headlines and labels well. What's more, it's built to run in interactive workflows seamlessly.

On the other hand, MAI-Image-2 is your go-to tool when your primary focus is precision. It excels at high fidelity demands like photorealistic scenes, stylized looks like anime or illustration, and longer or more complex in-image text. This means it will pay close attention and deliver an output that closely aligns with your detailed prompt.

That said, MAI-Image-2-Efficient is available in general availability and can be accessed in Microsoft Foundry and MAI Playground. Microsoft has also promised to integrate the tool into Copilot and Bing soon.

Windows Central's take

Over the past few months, Microsoft has doubled down on its AI efforts outside its partnership with OpenAI. This comes amid rising investor concern over its exorbitant spending on the ever-evolving landscape.

Microsoft just suffered the worst quarter since the financial crisis in 2008, raising more concerns among investors about AI turning into a profitable venture. Still, the company is making elaborate measures to make sure it cements its position in AI, including reshuffling its Copilot leadership structure.

The company recently appointed Ex-Snap exec Jacob Andreou to lead Copilot experiences, both consumer and commercial, as an executive vice president reporting to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. This means Microsoft's AI CEO, Mustafa Suleyman, will now have more time to build in-house AI models for the company.

That said, it'll be interesting to see how Microsoft manages to drive interest in its new tools and potentially compete with OpenAI on an even playing field. It could use its massive hold on the market share with Windows and Office, but users are seemingly against the idea.

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