Microsoft has issued a significant update for Bing Chat and the Bing + Edge Copilot for its Microsoft Edge browser. This update to the AI search capabilities makes major changes to improve the chatbot, expanding the AI to offer visual and multimodal searches.
Microsoft’s Prometheus project led to the creation of Bing Chat which uses Microsoft’s own AI with integrations from OpenAI AI models into the search engine. Those OpenAI integrations include GPT-4 and DALL-E. Introduced in February, Bing Chat has been a driving force – alongside ChatGPT – in the mainstreaming of AI large language models (LLCs).
Microsoft has regularly updated the AI search bot, which is also available through an integration in the Edge browser. One of the big updates was the release of Bing Image Creator in March. This tool also taps into AI from OpenAI, notably the DALL-E AI image-generating model within the Bing AI search service.
To make search more visual on Bing, Microsoft has introduced richer, more visual answers, including charts and graphs and updated formatting of answers, helping users find the information they seek more easily. The company is also expanding Image Creator to all languages in Bing – that’s more than 100 languages – so that users can create images in their native language.
Bing Chat + Edge: Actions and History
Microsoft is also rolling out a redesigned version of Edge, with a sleeker and enhanced user interface, including a streamlined look, rounded corners, organized containers and semi-transparent visual elements. Edge will also soon have improved summarization capabilities for long documents, including PDFs and longer-form websites, making it easier to consume dense online content.
Actions for Bing Chat + Edge are a major addition, allowing users to access Microsoft’s Bing AI tool to handle tasks without needing to jump between websites. For example, if Bing recommends a restaurant you can also see your reservation times and even start a booking within the chat.
To make search more productive, Microsoft has introduced a new feature by which users will be able to pick up where they left off and return to previous chats in Bing chat with chat history. Starting soon, the company will also be adding export and share functionalities into chat, allowing users to easily transfer their chats to companion software like Microsoft Word.
Microsoft also plans to build third-party plug-ins into the Bing chat experience, creating a platform for developers. For example, if users are researching the latest restaurant for dinner in Bing chat, it will leverage OpenTable to help them find and book a reservation.
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