Microsoft Bing, Edge Get Major Upgrades

Key Insights: 

• Microsoft upgrades its Bing chat with Open Preview, Bing Image Creator, and more
• It will also be getting a new look, along with visual search, improved summarization, and Edge actions 
• Bing stands out among its competitors as it puts together OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Microsoft’s extensive search index 

Microsoft just launched the “next generation” of its AI-powered chatbot Bing and web browser Edge along with new, upgraded features.  

Upgraded Microsoft Bing 

To kick things off, Microsoft is removing the waitlist for Bing and will now make it available to more users in Open Preview. They just have to sign into Bing using their Microsoft Account to be able to use both the new Bing and Edge.

Bing will now also provide users with Knowledge Cards and visual search, introducing “richer, more visual answers” that range from charts, graphs, and an updated format for its answers. 

The AI tool can now process images, too. With “Bing Image Creator” built into Bing chat, it can now generate both written and visual content all within the chatbot service. Additionally, Bing chat is expanding its Image Creator to include more than 100 languages in Bing, making it easy for users to create prompts using their native language.  

The company is also adding to Bing two of its most requested features.  

Starting today, users can look back on previous chats using chat history, to which chat results can be managed in the Edge sidebar as they continue to browse – much like how ChatGPT keeps tabs of conversations.  

Soon, the company also plans to make conversations with Bing more personalized by adding context from previous exchanges with the chatbot into new chats.

Another feature users have been requesting is the ability to share and export conversations. Rolling out soon, users can easily share their Bing chats with others by exporting them directly. To make it easier to transfer into other tools like Microsoft Word, the company explained that chat formats will remain the same.  

Lastly, Microsoft plans to integrate third-party plug-ins into Bing chat to “create a platform for developers.”  

An example the company gave was that if a user wanted to get dinner recommendations from Bing chat, the AI tool will use OpenTable to help the user find a place and book a dinner reservation. 

The tech giant is working closely with OpenAI to make it easier for developers to take advantage of the opportunities that the AI tool brings. “We believe these types of skills are a game-changer in the reinvention of search and to advance opportunities for developers in search. We look forward to sharing more details at Microsoft Build later this month,” they added. 

When it comes to safe use, both companies have been working on implementing safeguards to block out harmful content and have credited the preview period of Bing to refining the user experience.  

“Our teams continue to work 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,” Microsoft further explained. 

A Redesigned Microsoft Edge

Like Bing, Microsoft is giving Edge a makeover. According to the company’s press release, the upgraded web browser will receive a “sleeker and enhanced” user interface that include a “streamlined look, round corners, fixed containers and semi-transparent visual elements.”  

While that seems to be the most immediate change for Edge for the meantime, Microsoft has laid out several features it plans to roll out for the web browser in the future.  

Soon, Edge will integrate visual search in chat. This means users can upload images in search to which Edge will display content related to the images.  

Microsoft is also making Edge better at handling long documents such as PDFs and websites for its users in chat, summarizing and condensing them to be easier to understand for users. 

The company will also rolling out Edge actions in the coming weeks. According to its press release, if users want to watch a specific movie, Edge will give them options in the chat sidebar and play the movie they want depending on where it’s available.

Edge’s mobile version is also receiving an upgrade with page context, where users can ask Bing chat questions related to the mobile page they’re viewing. 

With its official launch only three months ago, Microsoft’s AI-powered Bing has since put itself on the radar as one of the leading and fastest-growing AI tools at present. But perhaps what makes it so prominent is how it combines OpenAI’s latest language model GPT-4 and Microsoft’s giant search index – providing services “you can’t get anywhere else but on Bing.”  

“This is fundamentally changing the way people find information,” the company expressed. 

What do you think of Bing and Edge’s new features? Share your thoughts with us on Twitter and LinkedIn!