OpenAI announced that GPT 5.6 will serve as the 'preferred model' for Microsoft 365 Copilot across the company's productivity apps. The declaration was made to counter recent reports that Microsoft was shifting toward its own in-house AI models to cut costs, though the exact boundaries of the new arrangement remain undefined.
Summaries like this, in your inbox every morning.
Sign up free →What happened
OpenAI announced Thursday that GPT 5.6 would become the 'preferred model' powering Microsoft's 365 Copilot across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Cowork. The move came days after Bloomberg reported Microsoft was replacing some OpenAI software with its own in-house models, known as MAI, to cut costs.
Why it matters
The announcement addresses speculation that Microsoft and OpenAI were drifting apart. However, the body notes that being a 'preferred model' doesn't clearly negate the previous reporting—Microsoft was already increasing use of its own software to reduce costs, and OpenAI's designation doesn't appear to reverse that trend. For Microsoft users, it signals continued reliance on OpenAI's technology for productivity tasks.
What to watch
The exact scope of what 'preferred model' means remains unclear beyond OpenAI's software continuing to power Microsoft's apps. The designation does not appear to rule out Microsoft's parallel use of its own MAI models in the same productivity suite.
Microsoft and OpenAI have sent mixed signals about their partnership in recent days. Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that Microsoft was replacing some OpenAI software with its own in-house models—called MAI—in apps like Word and Excel as a cost-cutting measure. This reporting raised questions about whether the two companies were separating after years of close alignment.
OpenAI's Thursday announcement of GPT 5.6 as a 'preferred model' for 365 Copilot appears designed to counter that narrative. OpenAI stated in its blog post that the partnership is about "bringing the benefits of advanced AI to more individuals and organizations." However, the article notes a critical limitation: the previous reporting that Microsoft was increasing use of its own models was not about ChatGPT stopping to power Microsoft's apps—it was about Microsoft relying increasingly on MAI alongside or instead of OpenAI's solutions to lower costs. The new 'preferred model' disclosure, the article observes, "doesn't appear to negate that previous reporting," meaning Microsoft's dual-sourcing strategy may persist even with GPT 5.6 formally designated as preferred.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts!
Log in to join the discussion
Get curated AI news from 200+ sources delivered daily to your inbox. Free to use.
Get Started FreeFree · takes 30 seconds · unsubscribe anytime
1 minute a day. The AI essentials.
200+ sources · Email / LINE / Slack
