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Grok 4.6 vs MAI-Thinking-1

Comparing Grok 4.6 and MAI-Thinking-1 across benchmarks, pricing, and capabilities.

xAI · Microsoft · Updated for 2026

Which is better?

Grok 4.6 and MAI-Thinking-1 trade strengths across price, capabilities, and technical limits. The better choice depends on the workload.

Based on current benchmark, pricing, and model metadata for 2026.

Choose Grok 4.6

  • you want the most recent training data — it shipped Aug 2026

Choose MAI-Thinking-1

  • you are already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem

At a glance

The differences that matter most.

Grok 4.6
xAI
MAI-Thinking-1
Microsoft
Benchmark wins
—
—
Input price
$2.00 / M
— / M
Output price
$6.00 / M
— / M
Context window
500,000
—
Released
Aug 2026
Jun 2026
License
Proprietary
Proprietary

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

No common benchmarks found

Grok 4.6 and MAI-Thinking-1don't have any common benchmark datasets to compare. They may have been evaluated on different testing suites.

Arena Performance

Playground indexes and blind preference scores

Context Window

Maximum input and output token capacity

Only Grok 4.6 specifies input context (500,000 tokens).

xAI
Grok 4.6
Input500,000 tokens
Output- tokens
Microsoft
MAI-Thinking-1
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
Tue Aug 25 2026 • llm-stats.com

Input Capabilities

Supported data types and modalities

Grok 4.6 supports multimodal inputs, whereas MAI-Thinking-1 does not.

Grok 4.6 can handle both text and other forms of data like images, making it suitable for multimodal applications.

Grok 4.6

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 4.6

Proprietary

Closed source

MAI-Thinking-1

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

Grok 4.6 was released on 2026-08-12, while MAI-Thinking-1 was released on 2026-06-02.

Grok 4.6 is 2 months newer than MAI-Thinking-1.

Grok 4.6

Aug 12, 2026

1 weeks ago

2mo newer
MAI-Thinking-1

Jun 2, 2026

2 months ago

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Grok 4.6 has a documented knowledge cutoff of 2026-02-01, while MAI-Thinking-1's cutoff date is not specified.

We can confirm Grok 4.6's training data extends to 2026-02-01, but cannot make a direct comparison without MAI-Thinking-1's cutoff date.

Grok 4.6

Feb 2026

MAI-Thinking-1

—

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Judge for yourself.

Run your own prompts against Grok 4.6 and MAI-Thinking-1 side-by-side, then vote on the output you prefer.

Grok 4.6
✓ Preferred
MAI-Thinking-1
Open in Playground

FAQ

Common questions about Grok 4.6 vs MAI-Thinking-1.

Which is better, Grok 4.6 or MAI-Thinking-1?

Grok 4.6 (xAI) and MAI-Thinking-1 (Microsoft) each have strengths in different areas. Compare their benchmark scores, pricing, context windows, and capabilities above to determine which fits your needs.

How does Grok 4.6 compare to MAI-Thinking-1 in benchmarks?

Grok 4.6 scores CursorBench v3.2: 69.9%, DeepSWE 1.1: 65.9%, FrontierCode: 61.3%, AA-Index: 61.0%, GDPval-AA: 58.4%. 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 4.6 and MAI-Thinking-1?

Grok 4.6 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 4.6 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 4.6 and MAI-Thinking-1?

Grok 4.6 is developed by xAI and MAI-Thinking-1 is developed by Microsoft.

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