Microsoft has released a new version of Bing, incorporating AI technology similar to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. This marks a significant shift in the search engine market and a competition with Google, who recently introduced their own AI service called “Bard”.
The company states that while there are 10 billion searches daily, they estimate half go unanswered, as people are using search for tasks it was not designed for, and it often fails to provide satisfactory answers for complex questions. Earlier, Microsoft has made a multi-billion dollar investment in OpenAI for a multi-year partnership.
Unlock your creativity. Ask the new Bing to help craft a speech to celebrate an anniversary. Join the waitlist now. https://t.co/sJeCwuVZEw pic.twitter.com/nxdlsTZuiI
— Bing (@bing) February 7, 2023
AI-powered Bing search engine and Edge browser
Microsoft’s AI-powered Bing search engine and Edge browser, which are now available in preview at Bing.com. The updates aim to improve search results and provide more complete answers, with a new chat feature and the ability to generate content. Microsoft describes these tools as an “AI copilot for the web”.
Better search: The updated Bing provides more accurate answers to simple questions like sports scores, stock prices, and weather. It also has a new feature that shows more detailed answers if you need them.
Complete answers: The new Bing looks at information from different websites to find the answer to your question. For example, if you are baking a cake and need to know how to use a different ingredient instead of eggs, Bing will show you detailed instructions without having to look at many different results.
A new chat experience: For complicated searches, like planning a trip or finding the best TV to buy, the new Bing has a new chat feature. The chat helps you clarify your search and find the exact answer you need by asking for more information, and providing suggestions.
A creative spark: The new Bing can create content to help you. For example, it can help you write an email, plan a vacation to Hawaii, prepare for a job interview, or make a quiz. Bing also shows where it got its information from, so you can see the sources it used.
New Microsoft Edge experience: The Edge browser has been updated with new AI features and a new design. It has two new functions, Chat and Compose. With the Edge Sidebar, you can ask for a summary of a long financial report and then use the chat to compare it to another company. You can also ask Edge to help you write a post, like on LinkedIn, by giving it some prompts. Edge can understand the web page you’re on and change to fit it.
Microsoft has combined four technical advancements to create the new Bing:
- A new, improved OpenAI language model, which is more powerful than ChatGPT and customized for search.
- A proprietary way of using the OpenAI model called the Prometheus model for better results with improved safety.
- AI applied to the core Bing search algorithm, resulting in a significant increase in relevance.
- A new user experience with a unified search, browser, and chat experience.
- These improvements are made possible through Microsoft’s investment in Azure as an AI supercomputer and OpenAI’s use of this infrastructure to train advanced models for Bing.
Availability
The new Bing search engine is now available for preview on desktop, and people can visit Bing.com to try sample queries and sign up for the waitlist. It will be expanded to reach millions in the coming weeks, with a mobile preview to follow.
Speaking on the announcement, Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft, said,
AI will fundamentally change every software category, starting with the largest category of all – search. Today, we’re launching Bing and Edge powered by AI copilot and chat, to help people get more from search and the web.