Microsoft’s new Bing brings a ChatGPT-like conversation into search, using OpenAI’s GPT-4 model to answer questions and draw on more recent information. The company also introduced AI features in a new version of its Edge browser, while keeping Bing’s familiar link-based results available.
Search results meet conversation
The new Bing offers a chat option in its toolbar. For some searches, it displays GPT-based results in a panel beside the usual search listings. Those answers appear when Bing has information to address a factual query.
For questions without a single precise answer, users can turn to a more open-ended chat experience. Bing may also suggest follow-up questions and possible answers, giving the exchange a conversational flow rather than a list of links alone.
Microsoft highlighted more current information as a difference from OpenAI’s ChatGPT at the time of the announcement. The company said Bing could handle queries about recent events, pricing, and travel advice. A user could ask for a five-day itinerary for Mexico city, for example, then have Bing draft an email sharing it with family.
Sources and familiar search remain part of the experience
Bing’s answers include links to sources in a “learn more” section. Microsoft also included a feedback option with each result, giving users a way to respond to what the system provides.
The AI features sit alongside the older, link-centric Bing. Users can continue searching as before, with AI-enhanced results added to the experience. That combination gives Microsoft room to serve straightforward searches and more involved requests in the same product.
Microsoft described the system behind the experience as Prometheus. It combines OpenAI models with Bing technologies, with the aim of producing relevant, annotated answers and up-to-date results while making the experience safer.
A new bid to give users a reason to choose Bing
Microsoft has tried for years to grow Bing, but the search engine has remained in the low single digits of global market share. Its chief executive, Satya Nadella, framed the announcement as a new moment for search and said the company wants its technology to improve human productivity while staying aligned with human values.
Yusuf Mehdi argued that existing search works well for navigation and basic factual questions, but falls short on more complex requests. Microsoft says those harder queries account for half of today’s searches. A conversational system could address them by putting recommendations and synthesized answers directly into the search experience.
The rollout was limited at launch. The new experience was live on Bing, but access to the full set of features required joining a waitlist. The Edge browser’s new AI capabilities appeared in its sidebar.
Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI is central to the effort. The company had made an initial $1 billion investment and recently announced further investment and an extension of the partnership. Microsoft was also competing for attention with Google, which had announced Bard, then available only to a select group of trusted testers.
Ads and publishers remain open questions
Microsoft said it planned to make money from the new capabilities through advertising. While the chat feature did not generally have attached ads at launch, a correction noted that ads would appear for some queries, including shopping searches.
The shift from links to direct answers could affect publishers whose businesses depend on people visiting their websites and seeing advertising. If users get what they need inside a search conversation, they may click through less often. The article described the potential consequences for online publishers and the web’s financial health as unresolved.
Microsoft has also positioned the new Bing as a possible step toward AI-powered assistants. The company previously pulled back from Cortana as a consumer voice assistant and repositioned it in 2021 as a service for AI-based productivity experiences in Microsoft 365. Whether Bing can help Microsoft gain ground in assistant-style tools, as well as search, remained to be seen.