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Microsoft has officially entered the AI image generation arena with the launch of MAI-Image-1, its proprietary model now integrated into Bing Image Creator and Copilot Audio Expressions. This marks Microsoft’s first in-house development of an AI image generator. MAI-Image-1 is designed to produce highly realistic images, with a particular strength in rendering complex lighting, expansive landscapes, and intricate artistic details. Microsoft emphasizes the model’s speed and efficiency, positioning it as a competitive alternative to larger AI image generation models. Beyond Bing Image Creator, MAI-Image-1 will also be leveraged to generate artwork for AI-driven narratives within Copilot Audio Expressions. Notably, while Copilot is evolving to leverage OpenAI’s advanced GPT-5, MAI-Image-1 is offered in conjunction with both OpenAI’s DALL-E 3 and GPT-4o within Bing’s image creation tools, giving users a range of AI art options.