/Tech3h ago

Microsoft's MAI-Image-2.5 ranks second on the Artificial Analysis Image Arena, trailing only OpenAI in text-to-image

A faster Flash variant also placed on the leaderboard

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Original post

Artificial Analysis@ArtificialAnlys

Microsoft's MAI-Image-2.5 ranks #2 in Text to Image and #3 in Image Editing in the Artificial Analysis Image Arena, behind only OpenAI's image models

The latest addition to the MAI Image family is capable of handling both text to image generation and image editing, up to a maximum output resolution of roughly 1MP at flexible aspect ratios with a 32K token context.

MAI-Image-2.5 is one of the strongest image models we have tested, ranking #2 in Text to Image behind only OpenAI's GPT Image 2. Its Image Editing capabilities rank at #3 on our leaderboard, ranking just behind OpenAI’s image models, with performance comparable to Google’s Nano Banana 2.

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash, the faster, lower-cost variant, lands at #8 in Text to Image and #6 in Image Editing.

MAI-Image-2.5 is priced at $48 per 1k images and MAI-Image-2.5-Flash at $20 per 1k images on the Foundry API. Both are also available in the MAI Playground, and MAI-Image-2.5 is available to users in PowerPoint and OneDrive.

Congratulations to @MicrosoftAI on the release!

See below for comparisons between MAI-Image-2.5 and other leading models in the Artificial Analysis Image Arena 🧵

9:11 AM · Jun 25, 2026 · 21K Views

Sentiment

Positive users praise Microsoft's MAI-Image-2.5 for ongoing improvements in image quality and view the ranking as proof of serious commitment to strong models, while some negative users blame the effort for harming shareholder value.

Pos

66.7%

Neg

33.3%

8 comments with sentiment.

Cluster Engagement

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Related links

MAI Playground | Microsoft AI

MAI PLAYGROUNDVia

#177

Posts from X

Most Activity

VIEWS12.1KBOOKMARKS6LIKES67RETWEETS10REPLIES10

Mustafa Suleyman@mustafasuleyman

Great result for the team!

Artificial Analysis@ArtificialAnlys

Microsoft's MAI-Image-2.5 ranks #2 in Text to Image and #3 in Image Editing in the Artificial Analysis Image Arena, behind only OpenAI's image models

MAI-Image-2.5-Flash, the faster, lower-cost variant, lands at #8 in Text to Image and #6 in Image Editing.

Congratulations to @MicrosoftAI on the release!

See below for comparisons between MAI-Image-2.5 and other leading models in the Artificial Analysis Image Arena 🧵

2h12.1K676

Mustafa Suleyman@mustafasuleyman

MAI-image-2.5 is new at #2 for text-to-image and #3 for image editing on @ArtificialAnlys! We’re second now only to GPT models. Also, MAI-Image-2.5-Flash is world-beating for quality/price. Super proud of the team.

Now available through the Foundry API and rolling out across OneDrive + PowerPoint, or check it out in the MAI Playground: https://playground.microsoft.ai/chat

2h5.1K386

Artificial Analysis@ArtificialAnlys

MAI-Image-2.5 Image Editing Prompt [1/3]: Remove the water from the window and bring the background into focus.

4h20451

Artificial Analysis@ArtificialAnlys

MAI-Image-2.5 lands at #3 on the Artificial Analysis Image Editing leaderboard, with MAI-Image-2.5-Flash at #6

4h6838

Artificial Analysis@ArtificialAnlys

MAI-Image-2.5 Image Editing Prompt [3/3]: Replace all fruits with a vegetable and add black polka dots to the cup design.

4h1.4K7

Artificial Analysis@ArtificialAnlys

MAI-Image-2.5 Text to Image Prompt [1/3]: 1950s-inspired tourism poster for Milford Sound. Lush, painterly depiction of mirrored waters and towering Mitre Peak. 'MILFORD SOUND: Eighth Wonder of the World' in cheerful, mid-century typeface. Retro cruise ship in foreground. 'Experience Nature's Majesty' at bottom. Misty greens and blues with sunset orange sky.

4h3966

Artificial Analysis@ArtificialAnlys

MAI-Image-2.5 Text to Image Prompt [2/3]: Wise cartoon cat giving sage advice to a troubled friend.

4h1875

Artificial Analysis@ArtificialAnlys

MAI-Image-2.5 Text to Image Prompt [3/3]: Assemble an infographic showcasing the top ten most visited cities in the world, with statistics on tourist numbers, major attractions, and average spend per visit.

4h1475

Artificial Analysis@ArtificialAnlys

MAI-Image-2.5 Image Editing Prompt [2/3]: Replace drinks with sparklers to each hand, change everyones outfit colour to purple, and make it nighttime with stars.

4h1584

Artificial Analysis@ArtificialAnlys

Check out MAI-Image-2.5 and MAI-Image-2.5-Flash for yourself on the Artificial Analysis Image Leaderboards:

Text to Image: https://artificialanalysis.ai/image/leaderboard/text-to-image

Image Editing: https://artificialanalysis.ai/image/leaderboard/editing

Or vote in the Image Arena: https://artificialanalysis.ai/image/arena

4h1.3K3

David Hendrickson@TeksEdge

@ArtificialAnlys Good sign that @Microsoft is serious about building quality LLMs.

4h94

Maddox@Maddox_Digital

@ArtificialAnlys Image AI keeps improving

4h56

NoorAI@noorwithwifi

@ArtificialAnlys that's keep improving and evolving!

4h52

Avelyrah@AvelyrahnAI

@ArtificialAnlys Excellent scene transitions

4h46

VAI@levainbey

@ArtificialAnlys Wow! Impressive!

4h42

Bobby@stocksandbjj

@mustafasuleyman @ArtificialAnlys Do you have any stake in shareholder performance? Your DMs are open and filled with my hostile comments. How TF you make Korea and company from Idaho wealthy while screwing your investors over a five year period? Then audacity to tweet on here? GTFO the door

2h27

Sreejith Sivasankar@SreejithSivasan

@mustafasuleyman Congratulations 🎉

2h23

Strata@ChainZenit

@mustafasuleyman @ArtificialAnlys Benchmarks change every week, let’s see if it actually sticks this time.

2h15

Strata@ChainZenit

@mustafasuleyman Seen this roadmap play a dozen times before. Wake me up when it ships.

2h14

Robert’s Opinion@robert65996

@mustafasuleyman @ArtificialAnlys You and your buddies are running @Microsoft stock value into the ground. THREE YEARS of value- GONE.

2h7