Microsoft retrofits Bing search engine with AI

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Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has announced the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI)-based results on its search engine designed to improve usability but faces stiff competition from industry players as the AI race gets underway.

In a blog post, Microsoft confirmed that Bing will be retrofitted with generative AI models to improve the quality of responses for search engine users. The new search experience will display AI-curated responses to user queries, with Microsoft describing the results as “bespoke and dynamic.”

An early peek into the offering reveals that the AI-generated responses will be displayed at the top of the page, followed by regular search results. These responses will contain links and sources to allow users to delve into the subject matter on relevant websites, noting that early tests still maintain the number of traffic to sites.

“This new experience combines the foundation of Bing’s search results with the power of large and small language models (LLMs and SLMs),” read Microsoft’s post. “It understands the search query, reviews millions of sources of information, dynamically matches content, and generates search results in a new AI-generated layout to fulfill the intent of the user’s query more effectively.”

Microsoft notes that the generated information is concise and easy to understand and designed to pique users’ interest in clicking the links to additional sources. Still in the beta stage, only a select number of users can use the AI-generated search, and the company favors a cautious approach before a mainstream rollout to prevent a disruption to publishers’ revenue.

“We are slowly rolling this out and will take our time, garner feedback, test and learn, and work to create a great experience before making this more broadly available,” said Microsoft.

The new offering builds upon Bing’s LLM-powered chat responses introduced over a year ago to critical acclaim. Experts say the new feature attempts to close the gap with Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL), with the Alphabet subsidiary rolling out its version of AI-based search.

While Google’s offering appeared to be an impressive innovation, it was marred by reports of inaccuracies and supposedly impeded publishers’ revenues. Learning from the conflicting responses of Google Search’s tango with AI, Microsoft says its offering will prioritize publishers’ interests and accuracy.

A dark horse joins the race

While Microsoft and Google have enjoyed dominance in the search engine space, analyst opine that both firms may have to give up a share of their market capitalization to OpenAI. The AI giant threw its hat in the ring following the planned rollout of SearchGPT, a prototype combining generative AI and the latest information from the web.

Laced with conversational capabilities, next-gen technologies, real-time information and a partnership with publishers, OpenAI’s SearchGPT drowned the excitement from Microsoft’s announcement. With an integration with ChatGPT in the works, it remains unclear when OpenAI will release SearchGPT as a standalone project.

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