Microsoft is opening up Bing Chat to a wider audience and integrating the chat tool deeper into the Edge browser. More AI features will be added to the search engine.

According to Microsoft, three months after the launch, more than half a billion conversations have already been conducted with Bing. To celebrate this milestone, Microsoft is announcing that Bing Chat is now available in open preview. This means users no longer need to be on the waiting list to use the search engine’s AI capabilities. Simply signing into Bing with your Microsoft account is enough to discover the revamped search engine.

Microsoft also makes it clear that Bing and Edge, how could it be otherwise, are becoming inseparable. Edge is being redesigned to better integrate Bing with the browser. The AI ​​assistant will always be present during your surfing session, so you can take the help of the artificial intelligence at any time. When you open a link that Bing provides you with during a conversation, the active chat moves to Edge’s sidebar so you can continue chatting while browsing.

visual search

With Bing, Microsoft also wants to focus fully on visual information because the human brain can process it better. Bing will be better able to process visual information on both the input and output side. As a result, you’ll see more charts and graphs in Bing’s responses. On the other hand, you can also show Bing an image to search the web for relevant information, thanks to GPT-4’s ability to “read” images.

Nothing is more visual than creating your own image, which is why last month Microsoft launched Bing Image Creator, a Dall-E search engine and browser integration. The image generator can now handle requests in a hundred languages, so you can easily write your prompts in Dutch.

chat history

From now on, Bing will also register your chat history and make it more accessible. This way you can continue your conversations at a later time. You can also export chat history to other Microsoft applications like Word. Over time, Bing might also bring context from previous conversations into new conversations.

Microsoft wants to continue expanding Bing with more and more AI. For example, Bing will also be able to summarize long texts, show connections on websites and find and play films for you. To do this, Bing makes it available as an API for developers to integrate into their own website.

With the help of Bing, Edge is set to become the first AI-powered browser. Microsoft hopes this will increase Edge’s market share. The hoped-for shock effect has not materialized so far.