Microsoft Is Building Its Own AI Empire — Beyond OpenAI
Microsoft invested $13 billion in OpenAI and built Copilot on GPT models. Now it is building its own. The MAI Superintelligence team — led by Mustafa Suleyman — has released MAI-Transcribe-1, MAI-Voice-1 and MAI-Image-2, all priced below Google and OpenAI equivalents. Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing changes July 1, 2026. Global AI adoption reaches 17.8% of working age population. Microsoft is not reducing its OpenAI relationship. It is building an exit ramp — quietly, deliberately, and faster than anyone expected.