Microsoft Bing will connect ChatGPT to the internet for all users
All ChatGPT users will now get real-time, up-to-date answers from the web, powered by Bing.
At Microsoft Build 2023, corporate VP Yusuf Mehdi announced Bing as ChatGPT's default for web browsing. OpenAI's chatbot uses a large language model built on pre-trained data that cuts off after September 2021. That's why it's not always good at providing answers about current topics.
In March, OpenAI launched a web browsing plugin for ChatGPT Plus subscribers that essentially gives ChatGPT internet access so it can retrieve real-time information. The plugin already used Bing Search as its search method through Bing's API. But now, web browsing via Bing is fully native within the chat. "ChatGPT will now have a world-class search engine built-in to provide timelier and more up-to-date answers with access from the web," said Mehdi in the announcement. He also added that ChatGPT answers will include web data and citations like the responses in Bing chat.
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But that's not all for the Microsoft/OpenAI partnership. Developers can now use one platform to build plugins that work for ChatGPT and Bing, as well as Microsoft 365 Copilot and Windows Copilot. Windows Copilot, which is Windows 11 with AI capabilities, will have Bing chat and all the interoperable plugins that come with it.
Bing-powered responses in ChatGPT is live today for ChatGPT Plus subscribers and will available as a plugin to non-subscribers. So whether you like it or not, if you use ChatGPT, you also use Bing.
Cecily is a tech reporter at Mashable who covers AI, Apple, and emerging tech trends. Before getting her master's degree at Columbia Journalism School, she spent several years working with startups and social impact businesses for Unreasonable Group and B Lab. Before that, she co-founded a startup consulting business for emerging entrepreneurial hubs in South America, Europe, and Asia. You can find her on X at @cecily_mauran.
