Microsoft has just announced a series of new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered features for its Bing chatbot and Edge web browser. Among the main changes, Bing users now have full access to the GPT-4 model, the same underlying engine that powers the ChatGPT “Plus” subscription service.
Previously, Microsoft limited access to the GPT-4 version of the Bing chatbot to a “limited preview.” Now announces open availability via the Bing app, web access, and the Edge browser.
In addition to giving users of Bing, Edge, and Windows free and unrestricted access to the GPT-4 model, Microsoft has also announced upcoming support for multimodal outputs, chat history and plug-ins.
Multimodal support will allow the Bing chatbot to generate responses that include a mix of text, images, and videos. It will also have the ability to generate tables and graphs, something that could give it an advantage over ChatGPT.
Users will also have access to their full chat history and, for those using the Edge browser, the ability to move chats to the sidebar to continue browsing in the same tab.. Microsoft says this feature will be rolling out “shortly.”
In the future, according to the blog post, Bing will even be able to reference previous sessions when interacting with users:
“Over time, we’re exploring making your chats more personalized by bringing context from a previous chat to new conversations.”
Perhaps the most ambitious addition announced is “Edge Actions,” also known as “Bing Actions,” Microsoft’s term for upcoming integrations with third-party plugins for Bing Chat.
The only plug-ins specifically mentioned in the announcement are OpenTable, which would allow users to book restaurant seats directly within the chat interface, and Wolfram/Alpha, a modality that would allow users to create complex visualizations for mathematical and scientific queries. . Microsoft says more integrations will be revealed as they roll out.
The new features will not require purchases or subscriptions, although users will need a free Microsoft account to take advantage of all of the Bing chatbot’s features..
In contrast, OpenAI’s ChatGPT Plus service costs $20/month to access the same GPT-4 model (the freely available ChatGPT service is based on GPT-3.5). Additionally, ChatGPT Plus does not currently offer image generation, web search, or third-party plug-in support.
It’s unclear how Microsoft and OpenAI intend to balance their respective offerings. Social media pundits have expressed confusion over what appears to be competition for users, as the companies essentially partnered up after Microsoft invested $10 billion in OpenAI.
ChatGPT and Bing Chat keep colliding, and it’s unclear how this will end.
– Why pay for ChatGPT Plus when Bing Chat also uses GPT-4?
– If you are paying for Plus, why use Bing Chat when ChatGPT will have browsing soon?
– And now, both have plugins!—Pete (@nonmayorpete) May 4, 2023
ChatGPT and Bing Chat continue to clash, and it’s unclear how this will end.
– Why pay for ChatGPT Plus when Bing Chat uses GPT-4 too?
– If you’re paying for Plus, why use Bing Chat when ChatGPT will have navigation soon?
– And now, they both have plugins!
Currently, those who pay for ChatGPT Plus receive certain benefits that are not available to the general public or to Bing chatbot users. Among them, early access to new functions, priority access to the system even in periods of high traffic and faster response times of the model.
The cryptocurrency world has seen an explosion of interest in chatbot technologies throughout 2023. Developers have built advanced autonomous trading bots on the GPT-4 platform, and many individual cryptocurrency users have begun employing chatbots for a variety of reasons.
For now it is unknown if OpenAI intends to adjust its subscription offer in the face of the omnipresence of Bing: Microsoft claims the search engine now has 100 million users, while the addition of Bing AI to the Windows taskbar gives it a potential global reach of more than 500 million users a month.
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