Model Comparison

Grok 4.5 vs MAI-Thinking-1Which is better in 2026?

Grok 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Verdict: Grok 4.5 vs MAI-Thinking-1 — which is better?

Grok 4.5 (by xAI) and MAI-Thinking-1 (by Microsoft) are two of the AI models people compare most. Here is how they stack up on benchmarks, price and capabilities, and which one to pick in 2026.

Grok 4.5 outperforms in 2 benchmarks (GPQA, SWE-Bench Pro), while MAI-Thinking-1 is better at 0 benchmarks. Grok 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Choose Grok 4.5 if…

  • you want the strongest raw capability — it leads on 2 of 2 shared benchmarks
  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Jul 2026

Choose MAI-Thinking-1 if…

  • you are already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

2 benchmarks

Grok 4.5 outperforms in 2 benchmarks (GPQA, SWE-Bench Pro), while MAI-Thinking-1 is better at 0 benchmarks.

Grok 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Tue Jul 21 2026 • llm-stats.com

Arena Performance

Human preference votes

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Grok 4.5 specifies input context (500,000 tokens).

xAI
Grok 4.5
Input500,000 tokens
Output- tokens
Microsoft
MAI-Thinking-1
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Tue Jul 21 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Grok 4.5 supports multimodal inputs, whereas MAI-Thinking-1 does not.

Grok 4.5 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Grok 4.5

Text
Images
Audio
Video

MAI-Thinking-1

Text
Images
Audio
Video

License

Usage and distribution terms

Both models are licensed under proprietary licenses.

Both models have usage restrictions defined by their respective organizations.

Grok 4.5

Proprietary

Closed source

MAI-Thinking-1

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok 4.5 was released on 2026-07-16, while MAI-Thinking-1 was released on 2026-06-02.

Grok 4.5 is 1 month newer than MAI-Thinking-1.

Grok 4.5

Jul 16, 2026

4 days ago

1mo newer
MAI-Thinking-1

Jun 2, 2026

1 months ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Grok 4.5 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2026-02-01, while MAI-Thinking-1's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Grok 4.5's training data extends to 2026-02-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without MAI-Thinking-1's cutoff date.

Grok 4.5

Feb 2026

MAI-Thinking-1

—

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

xAI
Larger context window (500,000 tokens)
Supports multimodal inputs
Higher GPQA score (93.0% vs 84.2%)
Higher SWE-Bench Pro score (64.7% vs 52.8%)
Microsoft

No standout differentiators in the data we have for this pair.

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Grok 4.5 and MAI-Thinking-1 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Grok 4.5
✓ Preferred
MAI-Thinking-1
Open in Playground
AI Model Comparison Table
Feature
xAI
Grok 4.5
Microsoft
MAI-Thinking-1

FAQ

Common questions about Grok 4.5 vs MAI-Thinking-1.

Which is better, Grok 4.5 or MAI-Thinking-1?

Grok 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks. Grok 4.5 is made by xAI and MAI-Thinking-1 is made by Microsoft. The best choice depends on your use case — compare their benchmark scores, pricing, and capabilities above.

How does Grok 4.5 compare to MAI-Thinking-1 in benchmarks?

Grok 4.5 scores GPQA: 93.0%, Terminal-Bench 2.1: 83.3%, Artificial Analysis Coding Agent Index v1.1: 76.0%, SWE-Bench Pro: 64.7%, AA-Omniscience Index: 63.0%. MAI-Thinking-1 scores LongFact: 98.0%, AIME 2025: 97.0%, AIME 2026: 94.5%, GraphWalks: 90.0%, AIR-Bench: 88.0%.

What are the context window sizes for Grok 4.5 and MAI-Thinking-1?

Grok 4.5 supports 500K tokens and MAI-Thinking-1 supports an unknown number of tokens. A larger context window lets you process longer documents, conversations, or codebases in a single request.

What are the main differences between Grok 4.5 and MAI-Thinking-1?

Key differences include multimodal support (yes vs no). See the full comparison above for benchmark-by-benchmark results.

Who makes Grok 4.5 and MAI-Thinking-1?

Grok 4.5 is developed by xAI and MAI-Thinking-1 is developed by Microsoft.

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