MAI Image 1
LMArena ID: mai-image-1
Microsoft AIProprietary
MAI Image 1 is an AI image model from Microsoft AI. On LMArena’s Text-to-image leaderboard it ranks 58 of 82 with 1093±4 from 98,410 votes. It is not on LMArena’s Image editing leaderboard yet. License: Proprietary.
Key figures
- Developer
- Microsoft AI
- License
- Proprietary
Not yet available: Released (per AA), LMArena · Image editing, AA Elo
Who it is for (from the data)
- When quality is not the top priority: #58 of 82 on Text-to-image, in the bottom half; if quality matters most, check higher-ranked models first.
- Mainly text-to-image: no image-edit results yet.
- Use via Microsoft AI's service or API: LMArena lists it as proprietary.
- Existing Microsoft AI users: this vendor has 4 models on Text-to-image.
Neighbours on Text-to-image
| # | Model | Score | Votes | AA Elo | License | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55 |  Wan 2.7 Image Pro Alibaba | 1104 | 30,226 | – | Proprietary | +11 |
| 56 | Wan 2.7 Image Alibaba | 1101 | 30,630 | – | Proprietary | +8 |
| 57 |  Recraft V4.1 Flash Recraft | 1099 | 3,516 | 949 | Proprietary | +6 |
| 58 | MAI Image 1 Microsoft AI | 1093 | 98,410 | – | Proprietary | |
| 59 | Z-Image Turbo Alibaba | 1083 | 24,808 | 936 | Apache 2.0 | -10 |
| 60 |  Seedream 3 ByteDance | 1082 | 36,885 | – | Proprietary | -11 |
| 61 |  FLUX 1 Kontext Max Black Forest Labs | 1074 | 65,510 | – | Proprietary | -19 |
Alternatives · More from Microsoft AI
| # | Model | Score | Votes | AA Elo | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | MAI Image 2.6 Microsoft AI | 1332 | 25,091 | 1166 | Proprietary |
| 14 | MAI Image 2.5 Microsoft AI | 1254 | 61,265 | 1118 | Proprietary |
| 24 | MAI Image 2 Microsoft AI | 1184 | 51,475 | – | Proprietary |
Alternatives · Top open-weight models
| # | Model | Score | Votes | AA Elo | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19 | Qwen Image 2.1 Alibaba | 1223 | 11,441 | 1042 | qwen-research |
| 20 |  Ideogram 4.0 Quality Ideogram | 1205 | 60,591 | – | Ideogram Open Model |
| 27 |  Cosmos3-Super-Text2Image (Agentic) NVIDIA | 1165 | 10,805 | – | OpenMDW-1.1 |
| 33 | Cosmos3-Super-Text2Image NVIDIA | 1152 | 18,485 | – | OpenMDW-1.1 |
| 35 |  Hunyuan Image 3.0 Tencent | 1150 | 180,518 | 989 | tencent-hunyuan-community |
How to read the scores
- LMArena score: people blind-pick the better of two anonymous images for the same prompt, and the votes are fitted into an Elo-style rating; "±" is the 95% confidence interval.
- Text-to-image and image edit are separate boards, so scores are not comparable across them; AA Elo comes from Artificial Analysis on a different scale.
- If the gap between two models is smaller than their combined intervals, the order is not statistically reliable; treat them as the same tier. More votes mean narrower intervals.
FAQ
Where does MAI Image 1 rank among AI image models?
Text-to-image rank 58 (1093) (LMArena, data as of Oct 26, 2026).
Is MAI Image 1 open-weight?
No. LMArena lists it as Proprietary; it is available only through Microsoft AI’s products or API.
Can MAI Image 1 edit images?
The LMArena image-edit board has no result for MAI Image 1 yet, so we cannot confirm its editing ability from the data.
Who makes MAI Image 1?
According to LMArena, MAI Image 1 is made by Microsoft AI.
How reliable is MAI Image 1's score?
The scores are based on 98,410 votes on Text-to-image (95% CI ±4). More votes and narrower intervals mean a more stable rank.
How far is MAI Image 1 from #1 on Text-to-image?
#1 on Text-to-image is GPT Image 2.5 Sunburst (1425); MAI Image 1 scores 1093, 332 points behind.
Sources
LMArena Text-to-image data published on Oct 7, 2026.
LMArena Image editing data published on Oct 20, 2026.
17NAS syncs the upstream leaderboards daily; this page's data was synced on Oct 26, 2026.
Price, resolution and speed have no reliable public data yet and are omitted; all values come from the snapshot, blanks show –.