Windows adds search with Bing similar to ChatGPT – 02/28/2023 – Tech

Microsoft on Tuesday began adding its newly updated Bing search engine to Windows desktop software, aiming to bring artificial intelligence (AI) within reach of hundreds of millions of people.

The Windows 11 update, Microsoft’s latest in a series of product overhauls this month, shows how the software maker is advancing in artificial intelligence despite recent scrutiny of its technology.

Windows will include the new Bing search box on the operating system’s taskbar, which should help half a billion monthly users navigate their files and the Internet, according to the company. The software behind the new version of the browser is developed by OpenAI, developer of ChatGPT.

The search engine itself is still in preview mode, accessible to about 1 million people in 169 countries with a waiting list for others, Microsoft said.

The company launched its AI-powered chatbot for Bing with the aim of taking market share from Alphabet’s Google by moving faster with ChatGPT-like software for search.

The new Bing can answer questions and talk to the user based on information available on the internet.

Microsoft has been getting feedback on the new Bing ahead of a wider rollout. The engine’s chatbot allegedly made declarations of love or made threats to some users, prompting the company to limit lengthy chats that it said “provoke” unexpected responses.

In addition to the new Bing, the Windows update will include software that can hook into iPhone messages and calls from a limited set of users, the company said.

Microsoft announced a multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI in January. The partnership between the two companies, however, lasts almost four years – in 2019, big tech allocated US$ 1 billion to the startup co-founded by Elon Musk and Sam Altman.