Microsoft Launches MAI-Image-2.6-Flash, Faster and Cheaper Image Model

Microsoft released its new image generation model, MAI-Image-2.6-Flash, and made it available for public preview on its Foundry platform. It shares core features with the flagship MAI-Image-2.6, like text-to-image, image editing, and object removal, but focuses on speed and cost.

Pricing is much lower: text input costs $1.75 per million tokens, image input $2.50, and image output $19—about half the price of the flagship version. Microsoft suggests using MAI-Image-2.6 for high-quality tasks and Flash for those needing quick results.

Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft's AI head, says Flash is twice as fast as GPT Image 2 and uses 72% less GPU power.