Microsoft
Microsoft MAI-Thinking-1
Microsoft MAI-Thinking-1 is a Microsoft model with 256K context, $2 in / $8 out per million tokens, last verified September 5, 2026. Open weights: no. Public-board scores are linked to the publisher; vendor-only figures stay in the watch-out, not on the board.
MAI-Thinking-1 is Microsoft's first in-house reasoning model, reducing dependence on OpenAI.
Catalog record checked September 5, 2026Individual provider fields may change
| Specification | Microsoft MAI-Thinking-1 |
|---|---|
| Provider | Microsoft |
| Tier | Frontier |
| Context window | 256K |
| Max output | 64K |
| Input / 1M tokens | $2 |
| Output / 1M tokens | $8 |
| Weights | Closed |
| Parameters | ~1T total / 35B active (sparse MoE) |
| Reasoning levels | low, medium, high |
| Modalities | text |
| API model id | mai-thinking-1 |
| Released | June 2, 2026 |
Pricing tiers: Global Standard $2.00/$8.00 per MTok, cached input $0.20 (Azure Retail Prices API, effective 2026-08-01, uniform across ~22 public regions; US Gov regions carry premiums). Still preview; Global Standard only, no PTU yet. 256K context with a 64K output cap that includes reasoning tokens. ~1T/35B sparse MoE; reasoning is always on (no effort levels). Microsoft's first true reasoning model, trained without OpenAI distillation.
Verified evidence
Published benchmark results
Each result keeps its source and measurement date visible. A missing benchmark is not treated as a zero.
| Benchmark | Score | Measured | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index | 55 | 2026-08-14 | Artificial Analysis · View source |
| AIME 2025 | 97 | 2026-08-12 | Microsoft AI — Introducing MAI-Thinking-1 (vendor, 256k output) · View source |
| SWE-bench Verified | 73.5 | 2026-06 | Microsoft AI model page (vendor, agentic, 256k total context) · View source |
| GPQA Diamond | 84.2 | 2026-06 | Microsoft AI model page (vendor, 256k output) · View source |
| Terminal-Bench 2.0 | 46 | 2026-06 | Microsoft AI model page (vendor, as labeled: Terminal-Bench 2.0 — NOT comparable to 2.1 observations) · View source |
Best for
- Enterprise (Azure)
- Reasoning
- Microsoft ecosystem
Watch out
Source receipts
Catalog figures for this model were checked against the following sources.
- Azure Retail Prices API (MAI-Thinking-1 $2/$0.20 cached/$8) (accessed 2026-09-04)
- AzureSpeed — AI model pricing tracker (same figures) (accessed 2026-09-04)
- Microsoft — Introducing MAI-Thinking-1 (~1T total / 35B active MoE) (accessed 2026-09-05)
- Microsoft Foundry — MAI-Thinking-1 usage (256K context, 64K output cap) (accessed 2026-09-05)
Common questions
Microsoft MAI-Thinking-1
Answered from the verified figures on this page rather than general guidance.
How much does Microsoft MAI-Thinking-1 cost per million tokens?
Microsoft MAI-Thinking-1 is listed at $2 per million input tokens and $8 per million output tokens at standard rates. Output tokens usually dominate real bills, so weigh the output rate more heavily than the input rate. Global Standard $2.00/$8.00 per MTok, cached input $0.20 (Azure Retail Prices API, effective 2026-08-01, uniform across ~22 public regions; US Gov regions carry premiums). Still preview; Global Standard only, no PTU yet. 256K context with a 64K output cap that includes reasoning tokens. ~1T/35B sparse MoE; reasoning is always on (no effort levels). Microsoft's first true reasoning model, trained without OpenAI distillation.
What is Microsoft MAI-Thinking-1's context window?
Microsoft MAI-Thinking-1 accepts about 256K tokens of context. That only matters if you routinely send very long documents, large codebases, or multi-turn histories that approach that limit.
What is Microsoft MAI-Thinking-1 best for?
Microsoft MAI-Thinking-1 is a frontier tier from Microsoft. It suits enterprise (azure), reasoning, microsoft ecosystem. Foundry-gated preview; no MAI-2 exists yet. Of the Build 2026 MAI wave, only MAI-Thinking-1 and MAI-Cyber-1-Flash ($0.60/$3.50, released 2026-07-27) have published token meters.