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Microsoft
2026-07-24 02:30:06

Microsoft launches MAI-Image-2.5-Pro and MAI-Voice-2-Flash, says GPU costs fell by as much as 89%

Microsoft has put two in-house AI models, MAI-Image-2.5-Pro and MAI-Voice-2-Flash, into public preview and paired the launch with internal figures meant to show how far its self-developed stack has moved into production. The company said a customer service deployment that switched to MAI-Voice-2-Flash cut compute costs by 89%, while PowerPoint image generation reduced GPU costs by 84% compared with OpenAI’s GPT-Image-2. Microsoft also said Bing Image Creator has fully moved to MAI-Image-2.5, OneDrive improved storage rate by 26% and lowered latency by about 25% after changing models, and Dragon Copilot reduced transcription and language-recognition error rates by 50% after adopting MAI-Transcribe-1.5 across workflows spanning 58 languages. Satya Nadella said on X that Microsoft will route traffic to MAI whenever its own models match or beat frontier alternatives, though he added that models from OpenAI and Anthropic remain part of the company’s broader orchestration system. Microsoft is also turning its internal training approach, which it calls a “hill-climbing” strategy, into Azure products through Foundry and Frontier Tuning for enterprise customers.

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Microsoft launches MAI-Image-2.5-Pro and MAI-Voice-2-Flash, says GPU costs fell by as much as 89%
Deutsche Bank
2026-07-21 10:24:17

Deutsche Bank keeps Buy on Microsoft with $550 target

Deutsche Bank said in its latest research note that market concerns over Microsoft’s jump in capital spending, the return on AI investment, and customer concentration tied to OpenAI orders have become significantly overdone. The bank said Microsoft’s current valuation remains attractive and reiterated its Buy rating alongside a $550 price target. The note also laid out Deutsche Bank’s expectations for Microsoft’s fiscal fourth quarter, which corresponds to the second quarter of the calendar year. It forecast revenue of $87.4 billion, up 14.3% year over year, and non-U.S. GAAP earnings per share of $4.17. Deutsche Bank expects Azure growth, measured in constant currency, to reach 40% to 41%. The bank added that enterprise cloud migration, demand for AI computing capacity, and newly added data center capacity should continue to support growth. It also projected Microsoft 365 Commercial Cloud revenue growth of 15% to 16%, while paid Copilot seats could top 25 million by year-end.

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Deutsche Bank keeps Buy on Microsoft with $550 target
Microsoft
2026-07-17 07:06:39

Nadella criticizes Anthropic’s limits on Fable, says companies should build cheaper custom AI models

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella criticized Anthropic’s restrictions on the use of its Fable model during an internal meeting with Copilot engineers, according to CNBC. Nadella said the way Anthropic refuses some requests is subject to excessive editorial control and lacks a sound rationale. Anthropic’s support page says the platform may switch to an older model version when users ask about certain large-model development topics. The company had previously said new safety measures introduced after Fable 5 returned online could incorrectly flag more harmless requests for blocking. The remarks carry added weight because Microsoft previously announced a $5 billion investment in Anthropic, while Anthropic committed to spend $30 billion on Azure. Some Microsoft Copilot products also use Anthropic models. Nadella also argued that companies should be able to build customized models at lower cost and keep control of internal data, rather than relying on a small number of firms that dominate AI token resources.

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Nadella criticizes Anthropic’s limits on Fable, says companies should build cheaper custom AI models
Microsoft
2026-07-16 02:52:42

Citi Cuts Microsoft Price Target to $570 as AI Spending Weighs on Near-Term Cash Flow

Citi has lowered its price target on Microsoft to $570 from $620, citing mounting pressure from the company’s AI investment cycle on near-term free cash flow and margins, while keeping its buy rating unchanged. The bank said Microsoft remains one of the clearest stories in AI software and cloud commercialization, but spending tied to Azure data center buildout, GPU purchases, and broader AI infrastructure expansion could keep investor expectations for cash generation under pressure over the next few quarters. Citi still expects long-term revenue support from Copilot, Azure AI services, and enterprise customer migration. The debate, in its view, is now centered less on strategic direction and more on timing, as the market has become more focused on whether heavy AI spending can translate into profit quickly. Mizuho and Wells Fargo have also cut their Microsoft targets recently while maintaining positive ratings. Across Wall Street, the common view remains that Microsoft’s AI assets are attractive, even as the stock faces short-term pressure from elevated capital expenditures, AI-driven changes in its traditional software business, and a reassessment of Azure growth expectations.

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Citi Cuts Microsoft Price Target to $570 as AI Spending Weighs on Near-Term Cash Flow