Microsoft Launches AI-Powered Bing and Edge in Limited Preview

As expected, Microsoft announced today a new version of its Bing search engine that integrates artificial intelligence technology from ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The new AI-powered Bing is launching in a limited preview today, and Microsoft is also updating its Edge browser with new AI capabilities.

“AI will fundamentally change every software category, starting with the largest category of all – search,” said Microsft CEO Satya Nadella. According to Microsoft’s own estimates, half of the 10 billion search queries every day remain unanswered because current search engines can’t provide answers to complex questions.

The new Bing is powered by a next-generation OpenAI model that the company says is more powerful than ChatGPT. “We have developed a proprietary way of working with the OpenAI model that allows us to best leverage its power. We call this collection of capabilities and techniques the Prometheus model,” said Yusuf Mehdi, Corporate Vice President & Consumer Chief Marketing Officer.

By applying this new AI model to Bing, Mehdi says that Microsoft saw “the largest jump in relevance in two decades.” The company also built a new user experience on Bing, with the search engine now capable of providing detailed answers like ChatGPT. Moreover, a new chat experience allows Bing users to refine their searches with questions.

In addition to providing better search results with more complete answers, the new AI-powered Bing can also provide recommendations or tips. The differences with digital assistants are starting to blur, though Microsoft says that it worked with OpenAI to protect users from harmful content.  “Our teams are working to address issues such as misinformation and disinformation, content blocking, data safety and preventing the promotion of harmful or discriminatory content in line with our AI principles,” explained Mehdi.

Microsoft says that its new AI-powered Bing is going live as a limited preview on bing.com today and that users can sign up for a waitlist that doesn’t seem to be visible as of this writing. The company is planning to expand access to “millions” of users in the coming weeks, and a mobile experience will also launch in preview soon.

If you use Microsoft Edge, the web browser is also being updated with new Chat and compose capabilities. The two features will be available from the Edge sidebar, and they will let users ask Bing to compose content and refine its answers by using the chat feature.

Microsoft’s new AI-powered follows Google’s announcement of Bard, a new ChatGPT-like conversational AI. Google is expected to follow up tomorrow with a search and AI event at 2:30 PM CET.