Microsoft's open-weight AI push is so obviously an Azure play it hurts

Microsoft signed an open letter backing open-weight AI models and distillation.

At the same time, it is shifting products like GitHub Copilot, Excel, and Outlook toward in-house MAI models to cut costs.

The strategy appears aimed at making Azure the default AI platform while reducing reliance on OpenAI and Anthropic.

Wider open-weight adoption could fragment the model market, boost Azure usage, and pressure rivals.