Microsoft is upping its ante in the race to possess the most efficient AI-powered search engine as the multinational company unveiled an updated model of the Bing search engine powered by an AI chatbot. The AI chatbot which is a customizable and more refined version of ChatGPT will have wide impacts on the IT sector.
Microsoft Bing, which is a search engine operated and owned by Microsoft has so far been in the shades of Google Search with a larger internet population choosing the latter over the former. With the integration of AI into the search engine, Microsoft Bing is expected to be much more efficient and useful than Google search.
Microsoft Edge, a cross-platform web browser owned and operated by Microsoft will also get a major reboot with the integration of an AI system.
Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI
The announcement regarding the newer version of Bing and Edge with AI support was expected by netizens for the past few days as Microsoft had decided to make a multi-billion dollar investment in OpenAI, an artificial intelligence research laboratory based in San Francisco, California.
ChatGPT, an AI chatbot developed by OpenAI was launched in November 2022. Soon after its launch, the new AI chatbot became a massive hit amongst netizens due to the plethora of activities it can do.
A few weeks ago reports, Microsoft announced an extension of its existing partnership with OpenAI by investing billions of dollars into the research lab. The decision of Microsoft to pump money into the OpenAI and take a significant stake in the AI research laboratory was seen as a highly significant move by tech pundits.
How will AI chatbot change Bing Search Engine
During the event, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that the newer technology which works along with the Bing search engine will be far superior and more efficient than ChatGPT. The software giant reportedly applied the AI Models of OpenAI to their search engine system.
Longer queries – In the new AI-assisted Bing search engine, people can enter up to 1000 characters, enabling longer and more complex queries. It will also be able to answer additional questions based on the initial query.
“Find me tickets to a Beyoncé concert in the United States where I won’t need a jacket at night”
It understands that it needs to find someplace warm, it checks the tour dates, and it cross-checks the weather forecast during those dates
prompt from @DaeshawnBallard pic.twitter.com/TOwo1Qw1js
— Karen X. Cheng (@karenxcheng) February 7, 2023
Content Generation – Apart from queries, the new AI-powered Bing can act as a content Generation tool where it can write summary emails, passages, itineraries, etc. to name a few. Translation services also become more accessible with the new search engine as it can automatically translate over 100 languages.
My favorite use case – having it negotiate on your behalf. I’ve always dreaded wording these emails
“My landlord just told us he is increasing rent by $200/month. Help me write a friendly email to negotiate with him. Mention our lobby has been under construction for 3 months” pic.twitter.com/xKMGam193t
— Karen X. Cheng (@karenxcheng) February 7, 2023
Bing search engine and Microsoft Edge integrated with the AI chatbots are expected to be available to the public within a few weeks. Those who are interested can join the waitlist for the new search engine on the Bing website.
Google is trailing
Things are not looking good for Google at the moment as its own AI Chatbot, Bard AI made factual errors during the first public demo of the AI system. In a GIF shared by Google for public display, while answering a question about the James Webb Space Telescope it said that James Webb Telescope “took the very first pictures of a planet outside of our solar system”.
Soon after the GIF got released, astronomers took to Twitter and other social media platforms to point out inaccuracies in the information provided by Bard AI.
Following the controversy regarding Bard AI, stocks of Alphabet Inc, the parent company of Google, went as down as 10 percent on Wednesday. The stock is currently trading at
Bard AI was unveiled by Google Inc a few days ago as a competitor for OpenAIs ChatGPT.
In a blog post, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said that Bard AI is a conversational AI service powdered by LaMDA. Bard AI which is being integrated into the Google search engine will be available to testers soon. There is no accurate information regarding when the new AI-powered Google Search engine will be available to the public.
Back-to-back launches of AI-integrated search engines by major tech giants in the United States are signaling the beginning of a crucial stage in the war for AI dominance. Even though Microsoft seems to have an upper hand at the moment with the help of OpenAI and ChatGPT, in-house expertise, financial power and market dominance in search engine business make Google a strong competitor.
Google vs Microsoft
When it comes to research and development of AI systems, both Google and Microsoft follow different business models.
Over the past few years, Microsoft has made strategic Acquisitions and multi-billion dollar investments in various entities related to Artificial intelligence and Machine learning.
The software giant aims to develop efficient AI systems by integrating its money power with the research capabilities of other AI research entities. Owning cloud computing platforms such as Microsoft Azure helps the software giant create high-powered systems.
Meanwhile, Google aims to use its financial power and in-house expertise to develop its own AI systems which will be more suitable for the Google search engine. The search engine Google is inarguably the most famous and used search engine in the world.