Microsoft launches Decision-1, a fast decision model that scores yes/no and pick-one calls
Microsoft released Microsoft-Decision-1 on October 9, available in Microsoft Foundry and through OpenRouter. Instead of writing text, it is given a fixed set of answers (yes/no, multiple choice or a rating) and returns a confidence score for each one in a single pass. Microsoft built it by further training Alibaba's open-weight Qwen3.5-9B, and in its own testing it scored the highest accuracy across a 36-benchmark comparison and ran about 35 times faster than GPT-6 Sol. Internally, Xbox researchers used it to sort more than 10,000 pieces of player feedback into set themes at quality competitive with GPT-6 Sol, over 14 times faster and 200 times cheaper. Input costs $0.042 USD per million tokens, and output is free.
What it means for manufacturers and fabricators
With Microsoft, OpenAI and Liquid AI all now selling decision models, routine office calls like which job an email belongs to, whether a PO matches the quote, or whether an invoice is OK to pay are getting cheap enough to automate by the thousand, and the confidence score lets you set the line where anything the AI isn't sure about goes to a person.
Related guide: How to Automate Your Business with AI: A Step-by-Step Guide for Manufacturers