Microsoft has mostly relied on OpenAI’s models for its AI solutions, but is now creating its own internal models.

On Thursday, Microsoft unveiled a speech generation model called MAI-Voice-1 and initiated public testing for a foundational model referred to as MAI-1-preview. The company asserts that MAI-Voice-1 can produce a minute of audio in less than a second on a single GPU, highlighting its effectiveness. MAI-Voice-1 is already integrated into Microsoft’s Copilot Daily and Podcast features, providing AI-generated audio news summaries and customized podcast-style content, akin to Google’s NotebookLM.

Currently, MAI-1-preview is restricted to LMArena, where users can evaluate it in direct comparisons with other models and to selected testers via the API. Microsoft intends to introduce MAI-1-preview for “specific text use cases” within its Copilot chatbot to collect initial user feedback.

Both Microsoft and OpenAI have benefited from their close collaboration. Microsoft has invested more than $13 billion in OpenAI and has supplied critical cloud infrastructure for OpenAI’s models. In exchange, Microsoft has gained access to OpenAI’s top AI models, elevating its position as a global leader in AI tools for enterprises. However, OpenAI has increased its influence and now offers subscription-based services for consumers through ChatGPT, developers via its API, and businesses with ChatGPT Enterprise. Despite their official partnership, the two firms have started to compete, leading to a potentially challenging scenario.

Recent developments underscore a growing strain in the relationship between the two companies, particularly as OpenAI aims to alter its corporate structure from a capped nonprofit to a for-profit public benefit corporation (PBC). This shift is contingent on Microsoft’s endorsement as a key investor in OpenAI. A particular clause in their agreement states that the contract would terminate if/when OpenAI attains AGI (artificial general intelligence). Microsoft is reportedly leveraging its investor position to renegotiate that clause for prolonged access to OpenAI’s models.

In the meantime, it appears that Microsoft is working to lessen its dependence on OpenAI by crafting its own models. Microsoft did not reply to a request for comment prior to publication, but Mashable will provide updates on this story following a response.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, the parent company of Mashable, initiated a lawsuit against OpenAI in April, claiming it violated Ziff Davis copyrights during the training and operation of its AI systems.