In a move designed to take on long-time rival Google, Microsoft has unveiled new versions of its Bing search engine and Edge web browser that leverage the latest artificial intelligence models developed by OpenAI.
Speaking at an event at the company headquarters, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella proclaimed, “It’s a new day for search.” The “new Bing” is available for a limited preview starting today, and Microsoft has claimed four technical advancements in its AI-powered search:
- The use of Open AI’s next-generation language model, faster and more capable than the existing ChatGPT version
- Microsoft’s own Prometheus model, which integrates Bing search with OpenAI
- Improved Bing search ranking engine, which Microsoft claims provides a huge leap in relevance for search queries
- A new, more unified user-experience.
The Bing search engine is now powered by a powerful new OpenAI language model, specifically designed for search. The “Prometheus Model” will improve the relevancy of Bing’s search results, and enhance its ability to understand geolocation, annotate answers and improve safety.
The search ranking engine has also seen a significant improvement in relevancy with the help of AI. Finally, the user experience has been combined with AI, chat, and other capabilities. This announcement is being hailed as the first shot fired in the AI battle between the tech giants and comes just a week after Google announced its own plans to roll out an experimental conversational AI service and new AI search tools.
Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI, which was announced earlier this year, is a multi-billion-dollar effort to accelerate AI breakthroughs. The integration of AI into Microsoft products has been accelerating in recent weeks, with the Azure OpenAI Service now available along with the recent release of Teams Premium, which integrates OpenAI functionality.