Microsoft introduced Bing just a day after Google announced its own chatbot, Bard, which became a direct competitor to ChatGPT.
In the midst of the battle for AI supremacy between Google and Microsoft, business magnate and philanthropist Bill Gates said in an interview that advancements in artificial intelligence are “the most important” innovation at the moment.
Microsoft unveiled a new version of its Bing search engine and Edge browser, powered by “a next-generation OpenAI large language model that is more powerful than ChatGPT and specifically tuned for search.” Early demonstrations of the updates showcased a sidebar that helps users summarize web content. Microsoft is also preparing to integrate similar technologies into its productivity apps, including Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
The optimization that AI can offer for reading and writing will have a “huge impact,” Gates said. He added that it will help increase efficiency and significantly improve outcomes in areas like healthcare and education.
“The easiest way to understand this is that AI is very good at speech recognition and visual identification.”
Gates remains an advisor to Microsoft, the company he founded in 1975 and led for more than two decades.