--- title: Microsoft is racing to make OpenAI optional | daily.dev description: Microsoft is developing its own AI models to reduce dependence on OpenAI and Anthropic. Its internally built model deployed in Excel claims parity with GPT-5.6... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-is-racing-to-make-openai-optional-ip9gjmzpu twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: Microsoft is racing to make OpenAI optional | daily.dev og:description: Microsoft is developing its own AI models to reduce dependence on OpenAI and Anthropic. Its internally built model deployed in Excel claims parity with GPT-5.6... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-is-racing-to-make-openai-optional-ip9gjmzpu og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/IP9gjmZpu.png og:image:alt: Microsoft is racing to make OpenAI optional og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Microsoft is racing to make OpenAI optional **[The New Stack](https://daily.dev/sources/newstack)** · 2 min read · 10 upvotes · 11 comments ## Summary Microsoft is developing its own AI models to reduce dependence on OpenAI and Anthropic. Its internally built model deployed in Excel claims parity with GPT-5.6 for common tasks at lower cost. Its MAI-Code-1-Flash model, post-trained within the GitHub Copilot harness, is used by millions of developers and reportedly achieves ~10% higher code accept rates than GPT-5.4 Mini and Claude Haiku 4.5 in VS Code. Microsoft's key advantage is its vast enterprise coding and work data, which it uses to continuously improve its models through what it calls a 'hill-climbing machine.' ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### How does Microsoft's MAI-Code-1-Flash model compare to GPT 5.4 Mini and Claude Haiku 4.5 in VS Code? Microsoft claims MAI-Code-1-Flash achieves approximately a 10% higher code accept rate than both GPT 5.4 Mini and Claude Haiku 4.5 in VS Code, while using fewer tokens and showing slightly better user retention. The model was post-trained within the GitHub Copilot harness and is reportedly used by millions of developers for daily work. _Developers weighing coding assistant models can follow how these accept-rate comparisons play out on daily.dev._ ### Does Microsoft's internal Excel AI model match GPT-5.6 performance? Microsoft states that an internally built AI model deployed in Excel is on par with GPT-5.6 for the most common tasks while being more cost-efficient, though this claim is contested as likely not matching frontier-level GPT-5.6 performance directly. The cost efficiency, not raw intelligence, is presented as the key advantage for typical Excel users. _Teams evaluating AI cost tradeoffs in office tools can track claims like this on daily.dev._ ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@agustinbarrientos** · 3 upvotes > Good! Competition is always a win for consumers **@ruhabasim** · 2 upvotes > We're watching the AI ecosystem split in real time. > >  **@akashskypatel** · 1 upvotes > Copilot is doodoo. they are def behind the curve **@khevlar** · 0 upvotes > The interesting part isn't just the model. Microsoft's real advantage might be all the coding and workplace data they can use to improve it. **@rizzdev** · 0 upvotes > Microsofts enterprise data will produce models tuned to old workflows that trail the frontier labs by a widening margin ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Microsoft swaps in its own AI over OpenAI in some apps](https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-swaps-in-its-own-ai-over-openai-in-some-apps-ru7dnzqi7) · The Next Web · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [OpenAI says GPT 5.6 is the ‘preferred model’ for Microsoft Copilot amid breakup chatter](https://daily.dev/posts/openai-says-gpt-5-6-is-the-preferred-model-for-microsoft-copilot-amid-breakup-chatter-x2j6ohvwk) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Microsoft joins AI cost-cutting trend by relying more on its own models](https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-joins-ai-cost-cutting-trend-by-relying-more-on-its-own-models-paf5bf3lb) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#ai](https://daily.dev/tags/ai), [#llm](https://daily.dev/tags/llm), [#microsoft](https://daily.dev/tags/microsoft), [#github](https://daily.dev/tags/github), [#openai](https://daily.dev/tags/openai) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-is-racing-to-make-openai-optional-ip9gjmzpu) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"Microsoft is racing to make OpenAI optional","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-is-racing-to-make-openai-optional-ip9gjmzpu","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-is-racing-to-make-openai-optional-ip9gjmzpu"},"datePublished":"2026-07-27T16:25:24.555Z","dateModified":"2026-10-15T02:22:58.081Z","description":"Microsoft is developing its own AI models to reduce dependence on OpenAI and Anthropic. 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Competition is always a win for consumers","datePublished":"2026-07-27T17:01:12.094Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/IP9gjmZpu#c-EvK9Na5BR","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Agustin Barrientos","url":"https://daily.dev/agustinbarrientos","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--5ayxQnqn--/f_auto/v1788281802/avatars/avatar_wQYYVe5Tbj0NJ7C7qPoa8?_a=BAMAMicg0"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":3}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"We’re watching the AI ecosystem split in real time.","datePublished":"2026-07-27T16:38:33.654Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/IP9gjmZpu#c-6XXXEc5iM","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Ruhab Asim","url":"https://daily.dev/ruhabasim","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--O0TOmw4y--/f_auto/v1715772965/public/noProfile"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":2}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Copilot is doodoo. they are def behind the curve","datePublished":"2026-07-27T17:52:37.455Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/IP9gjmZpu#c-DoAG3EoIh","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Akash","url":"https://daily.dev/akashskypatel","image":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/8129618?v=4"},"interactionStatistic":{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"The interesting part isn’t just the model. Microsoft’s real advantage might be all the coding and workplace data they can use to improve it.","datePublished":"2026-07-29T09:20:31.944Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/IP9gjmZpu#c-ZCSjBRL3A","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Lesley Edinam","url":"https://daily.dev/khevlar","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--I4QFMNNF--/f_auto/v1753089440/avatars/avatar_xMSmIuOOXE5TqCI1OLs4c?_a=BAMClqZW0"}},{"@type":"Comment","text":"Microsofts enterprise data will produce models tuned to old workflows that trail the frontier labs by a widening margin","datePublished":"2026-07-31T16:27:52.820Z","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/IP9gjmZpu#c-8v1nFVTyM","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"Andrew","url":"https://daily.dev/rizzdev","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/s--35vRfXAA--/f_auto/v1785413727/avatars/avatar_fQ7ttCKtPuu6tDvcgQXv5?_a=BAMAMicg0"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/microsoft-is-racing-to-make-openai-optional-ip9gjmzpu#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"How does Microsoft's MAI-Code-1-Flash model compare to GPT 5.4 Mini and Claude Haiku 4.5 in VS Code?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Microsoft claims MAI-Code-1-Flash achieves approximately a 10% higher code accept rate than both GPT 5.4 Mini and Claude Haiku 4.5 in VS Code, while using fewer tokens and showing slightly better user retention. 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