Microsoft’s new ChatGPT-powered Bing experience will be available today for everybody as a “limited preview” on desktop. You’ll have a limited number of queries that you can use with it, but you will be able to sign up for full access soon.
Microsoft’s ChatGPT-powered Bing is open for everyone to try starting today
Microsoft’s ChatGPT-powered Bing is open for everyone to try starting today
If you visit Bing.com, you may see some example searches that you can try out, if it shows you the new interface. Clicking on them will lead you to a Bing search page with traditional results on the left, and a chat window on the right with the AI-generated answer. Until you have full access, you won’t be able to ask follow-up questions or clarify the results. Searching for your own query will give you Bing’s traditional search results, despite the homepage using the new chat-style UI.
You can join the waitlist here, and Microsoft says you’ll get higher priority if you sign in with your Microsoft account, set Microsoft defaults on your PC, and download the Bing app. According to an FAQ, you’ll get an email when you’re through the waitlist and can access the new chat experience.
The company expects to roll out access to millions of people within the coming weeks, as well as to roll out a mobile version of the experience. In a blog post about the rollout, Microsoft says it’s “excited to put the new Bing and Edge into the real world to get the critical feedback required to improve our models as we scale.”
The waitlist page shows some examples of what you can use the tool for, such as asking it to create a three-course vegetarian menu for six people with a chocolate dessert or to find an all-wheel drive car that seats six and has a sub-six-second 0–60 time.
To enable Bing’s AI-powered features, Microsoft’s working with OpenAI, the company behind the ChatGPT chatbot. However, Microsoft claims that it’s using a “next-generation OpenAI large language model” that’s even “more powerful than ChatGPT.”
With the new Bing, users can input queries up to 1,000 words long and receive annotated AI-generated answers that will appear alongside regular search results from the web. Microsoft’s also adding a way to refine these results using a new built-in chatbot on Bing.
The company made the announcement as part of its surprise press event on Tuesday, where it also revealed news about an AI-powered “copilot for the web” that will appear on Microsoft Edge. The tool can perform a variety of tasks while you’re using the browser, such as summarizing a PDF that you’re viewing, generating code, and even creating a post on social media.
Microsoft announced the news just one day after Google revealed that it’s working on a similar AI-powered tool called Bard. The two companies are currently engaged in a heated battle over the future of AI, and this is likely just the beginning.