Microsoft’s search engine, which uses OpenAI’s GPT-4, is now available to the general public. It will soon be able to accommodate extensions to gain functions.
By integrating ChatGPT with Bing and Edge, Microsoft started a war with Google. However, the software giant opted to limit its GPT-4-boosted Bing to waitlisted users, which limited its use to a smaller portion of users. After quietly opening the floodgates in March, Microsoft has formalized the opening of its new Bing to everyone on May 4.
Lots of new things on the program
To facilitate the use of the search engine, Microsoft has greatly improved Bing Chat, its conversational agent which is based on ChatGPT. Bing is now able to remember chats it has had with you and form a history. It will also allow you to resume past conversations on all devices and even use Bing Chat as a search tool. Microsoft also plans to add the ability to export and share the content of a conversation on Twitter or in a Word document.
Edge, Microsoft’s web browser, will also strengthen its integration of GPT-4. If Bing Chat provides a response with a link to open, the chat will automatically move to a sidebar. This will leave room to ask further questions while browsing the site.
Another improvement announced by Microsoft: Bing Chat will include more visual elements (such as diagrams or graphs) in its answers, not to limit them to text. Microsoft has also extended the Bing image generator with Dall-E, so that it works in more than 100 languages.
Along with these features, Microsoft has reinforced the presence of plugins to avoid performing multiple tasks that would require opening new pages. For example, by asking Bing for a restaurant address, the engine could directly recommend one and make a reservation on OpenTable, an online reservation service. Other plugins are also highlighted, such as one that will search for a movie and ask Bing to launch the movie, by sending directly to the right platform. This novelty is reminiscent of the one announced on ChatGPT last March.
An ad to annoy Google
With Bing, Microsoft is gradually making AI accessible to the general public. Where a service like Midjourney forces its users to use Discord, Microsoft offers a very easy-to-use system, straight to a search engine. It’s clever, and it increases the pressure on Google.
On May 10, Google is precisely organizing its I/O 2023 conference, where it should say more about Bard, its own artificial intelligence. Chance does not exist in the world of tech: Microsoft clearly wanted to give priority to its rival.
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