Microsoft has announced the next generation of AI-powered Bing and Edge to transform the search experience by expanding the vision and capabilities of Your Copilot for the Web. The new Bing is now in Open Preview, eliminating the waitlist for trial, and making it easier for everyone to try the new Bing and Edge by simply signing into Bing with a Microsoft Account. The next-generation search experience is defined by richer, more visual answers including charts and graphs and updated formatting of answers, helping users find information more easily. Bing Image Creator is also expanding to all languages in Bing, which is more than 100 languages. Microsoft is also beginning the work to incorporate visual search in chat, so users will be able to upload images and search the web for related content.
Making search more visual
The human brain processes visual information about 60,000 times faster than text, making visual tools a critical way people search, create and gain understanding. Bing has always been known for its visual experiences, and now it delivers those same experiences in chat. Microsoft is introducing richer, more visual answers including charts and graphs and updated formatting of answers, helping users find the information they seek more easily.
Bing Image Creator was recently integrated into the new Bing chat experience, making Bing the only search experience with the ability to generate both written and visual content in one place, from within a chat. Microsoft is expanding Image Creator to all languages in Bing, which is more than 100 languages, so now users can create images in their native language. The new Bing chat will also have improved summarization capabilities for long documents, including PDFs and longer-form websites, making it easier to consume dense online content.
Making search more productive
Two of the most requested features are maintaining access to the chat history and being able to share and export. Starting shortly, users will be able to pick up where they left off and return to previous chats in Bing chat with chat history. When users want to dig into something deeper and open a Bing chat result, their chat will move to their Edge sidebar, so they can keep their chat on hand while they browse. Over time, Microsoft is exploring making users’ chats more personalized by bringing context from a previous chat into new conversations.
Starting soon, Microsoft is adding export and share functionalities into chat. For times when users want to easily share their conversation with others in social media or continue iterating on a newly discovered idea, they can export it directly. The format stays the same to make an easy transition to continue in collaborative tools like Microsoft Word.
Edge actions will be available in the coming weeks, enabling users to lean on AI to complete even more tasks with fewer steps. For example, if users want to watch a particular movie, actions in Edge will find and show them options in chat in the sidebar and then play the movie.
Bing is now in Open Preview
Thanks to tremendous customer adoption, engagement and feedback, Microsoft is announcing the new Bing is now in Open Preview and no longer has a waitlist. This means that it will now be easier than ever for everyone to try the new Bing and Edge by simply signing into Bing with their Microsoft Account.
Moving from single-use chat/search sessions to multi-session productivity experiences with chat history and persistent chats within Edge is opening up platform capabilities so developers and third parties can build on top of Bing to help people take actions on their queries and complete tasks.
