MAI Image 2.6 Flash

Released on September 4, 2026

Changes from previous version

Same 2.6 quality stack as MAI Image 2.6, tuned for production speed and lower token rates rather than maximum precision.

Release Summary

Lower-latency sibling of MAI Image 2.6 for high-throughput production. Microsoft says it generates images 2.8x faster than GPT-Image-2-Medium with 72% greater efficiency, at less than half the flagship list price. Azure rates: $1.75/M text input, $2.50/M image input, and $19/M image output. Same multi-reference editing, web grounding, and dynamic aspect ratios as 2.6.

Timeline

September 4, 2026

MAI-Image-2.6-Flash released

Microsoft AI ships the Flash production tier alongside MAI-Image-2.6 in Foundry public preview.