MAI Image 2.5
Microsoft · AI imageMAI-Image-2.5 is Microsoft's high-quality image generation model, available through Azure AI Foundry and routed on VidMachine via OpenRouter. It produces photorealistic and artistic images from text prompts, with support for common aspect ratios including vertical 9:16 for short-form video.
The model accepts reference images alongside your prompt for editing-style and continuity workflows when your pipeline supplies project or frame references.
Key features and benefits
Quality and style
MAI Image 2.5 targets strong photorealism and flexible artistic output from natural-language prompts. It fits marketing frames, story-driven thumbnails, and scene stills where you want Microsoft's image stack without running a separate host integration.
Aspect ratios
Supported aspect ratios include 1:1, 4:3, 3:4, 16:9, 9:16, 3:2, and 2:3. VidMachine defaults to 9:16 for shorts and start frames so generated assets align with vertical delivery formats.
Reference images
When your project or scene pipeline provides reference URLs—such as a project hero image or the previous segment's starting frame—VidMachine sends them in the multimodal request so the model can use visual context alongside your text prompt.
OpenRouter routing
On VidMachine this model runs only through OpenRouter (not Replicate). You need OPENROUTER_API_KEY configured in the environment; billing uses VidMachine credits per image.
Technical specifications
ProviderMicrosoft (Azure MAI)
OpenRouter modelmicrosoft/mai-image-2.5
Aspect ratios1:1, 4:3, 3:4, 16:9, 9:16, 3:2, 2:3
VidMachine routingOpenRouter chat completions (image output)
Use cases and applications
MAI Image 2.5 suits teams that want Microsoft's image quality in an automated shorts pipeline—starting frames for AI Video, full scene stills for AI Images, and cover-style assets when paired with your prompt workflow.
Use it when OpenRouter is already your backbone for other models and you prefer a single API key for image generation alongside text and video routes.
Why this model
Choose MAI Image 2.5 for Microsoft-backed image generation with portrait aspect support and reference-image input, integrated on VidMachine at a fixed credit cost without a separate Replicate deployment.
How VidMachine uses it
Internal model id: mai-image-2-5. Generation uses OpenRouter POST /api/v1/chat/completions with modalities ["image"] and image_config.aspect_ratio (default 9:16).
Reference images from the project and previous segment frames are attached to the user message when available, matching other image models in the pipeline.
Billed at 10 credits per generated image.
What you should know
Does MAI Image 2.5 run on Replicate in VidMachine?
No. This model is OpenRouter-only on VidMachine. Select mai-image-2-5 in image_model_priority and ensure OPENROUTER_API_KEY is set.
Which aspect ratio should I use for Shorts?
VidMachine uses 9:16 by default for scene and start-frame generation, which MAI Image 2.5 supports natively.