Sept 12 (Reuters) - Microsoft ( MSFT )-backed OpenAI

said on Thursday it was launching a series of AI models designed

to spend more time processing to solve hard problems.

The models, dubbed o1 and o1-mini, can reason through

complex tasks and solve harder problems than previous models in

science, coding and math, the AI firm said.

The o1 will be available in ChatGPT and its API starting

Thursday.

"We trained these models to spend more time thinking

through problems before they respond, much like a person would.

Through training, they learn to refine their thinking process,

try different strategies, and recognize their mistakes," OpenAI

said.