Model Comparison

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

Grok 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

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

MAI-Thinking-1 (by Microsoft) and Grok 4.5 (by xAI) 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.

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

Choose MAI-Thinking-1 if…

  • you are already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem

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

Performance Benchmarks

Comparative analysis across standard metrics

2 benchmarks

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

Grok 4.5 significantly outperforms across most benchmarks.

Fri Jul 17 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).

Microsoft
MAI-Thinking-1
Input- tokens
Output- tokens
xAI
Grok 4.5
Input500,000 tokens
Output- tokens
Fri Jul 17 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.

MAI-Thinking-1

Text
Images
Audio
Video

Grok 4.5

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.

MAI-Thinking-1

Proprietary

Closed source

Grok 4.5

Proprietary

Closed source

Release Timeline

When each model was launched

MAI-Thinking-1 was released on 2026-06-02, while Grok 4.5 was released on 2026-07-08.

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

MAI-Thinking-1

Jun 2, 2026

1 months ago

Grok 4.5

Jul 8, 2026

1 weeks ago

1mo newer

Knowledge Cutoff

When training data ends

Neither model specifies a knowledge cutoff date.

Unable to compare the recency of their training data.

No cutoff dates available

Outputs Comparison

Notice missing or incorrect data?Start an Issue discussion→

Key Takeaways

Microsoft

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

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%)

Detailed Comparison

Interactive Arena

Judge for yourself.

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

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

FAQ

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

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

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

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

MAI-Thinking-1 scores LongFact: 98.0%, AIME 2025: 97.0%, AIME 2026: 94.5%, GraphWalks: 90.0%, AIR-Bench: 88.0%. 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%.

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

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

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

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

Who makes MAI-Thinking-1 and Grok 4.5?

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

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