Microsoft Directs Developers to Use OpenAI GPT-5.6 Sol as Default Model

Microsoft CoreAI engineering team EVP Jay Parikh issued an internal memo requiring developers working on AI programming projects to use OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol as the default model. The directive aims to improve AI resource efficiency by consolidating workloads on OpenAI's latest flagship model. This comes as Microsoft simultaneously develops its own MAI model family and has started replacing OpenAI models with MAI in Excel and Outlook. The dual-track strategy reflects Microsoft's complex relationship with OpenAI.