Microsoft launches streaming transcription and two voice models
MAI-Transcribe-2-Streaming, MAI-Voice-2.1 and MAI-Voice-2.1-Flash target interactive voice agents.
Available
Facts, analysis and limits
Verified facts
- MAI-Transcribe-2-Streaming handles 60 languages with continuous language detection and initial hypotheses in just over 100 ms, according to Microsoft.
- The advertised introductory price is $0.54 per audio hour until the end of the year.
- MAI-Voice-2.1 and Flash support 23 languages and 26 regional variants, with announced rates of $22 and $15 per million characters.
- The three models are accessible via Microsoft Foundry and MAI Playground; LiveKit is indicated as coming.
What changes
The partial transcript may allow the agent to prepare his answer before the end of the sentence.
Practical implication
Measure latency end-to-end, errors in French and consent before clone a voice.
Availability
Belgium/EEA: regional scope is not specified in the sources reviewed; check the account, contract and processing region before use.
Limits and uncertainty
Rankings and latencies cited come from Microsoft's post; check regional availability and EEA residency.