Microsoft Corporation announced on Tuesday that it was integrating artificial intelligence into both its Edge Web browser and Bing search engine in a bid to make its Windows operating system more advanced and useful for consumers.
Microsoft is directly competing with Alphabet Inc.’s Google, which has long advanced in terms of search and browser technology. Microsoft has plans to invest billions of dollars in AI.
Microsoft transforms Bing
With plans to add AI into its various products, including Bing’s search results, Microsoft expects the usage of AI by users will expand to web pages, emails. AI will also benefit users by summarizing the web pages, creating as well as translating emails.
The new Bing, according to Microsoft executives, will alter how people locate information online.
For instance, a chatbot can make it easier for users to refine their queries and get more relevant, current answers.
Instead of just spouting links to websites, the AI-driven search engine would be able to provide concise explanations in plain language by synthesizing what Bing discovered online and in its own data repositories. Current-events queries would make more use of online live data.
Microsoft also aims to leave behind its biggest tech adversary, Google, with collaboration with OpenAI. It also hopes to reap significant financial benefits from technologies that accelerate the development of content by automating chores. That would have an impact on both consumer internet use and commercial solutions like Microsoft’s cloud computing and collaboration tools.
Microsoft anticipates an additional $2 billion in search advertising revenue for every percentage point of market share it increases.
The company currently controls an estimated tenth of the search market. However, a lot of investors believe that new technologies will benefit everyone. Alphabet gained 4.6% on Tuesday, while Microsoft’s shares ended the day 4.2% higher.
What Microsoft refers to as the Prometheus model, which is OpenAI’s most potent technology and is informed as necessary by real-time web data from Bing, is the foundation of the new Bing. This means that Bing’s chatbot may update users on current happenings, which is a step forward over ChatGPT’s replies, which will only provide data as of 2021.
Microsoft’s corporate vice president for search and AI, Jordi Ribas, told Reuters that the technological advancements his team saw last summer gave the company confidence to proceed with an AI-infused Bing.
At a press conference at the company’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said, “This technology is going to reshape pretty much every software category.”
The search engine at Microsoft is powered by “new, next-generation” technology from OpenAI, according to the company’s chief financial officer. However, officials declined to say whether this referred to the startup’s eagerly awaited GPT-4 upgrade.
Commercial to consumer
Microsoft wants to promote OpenAI’s technology, such as ChatGPT, to its cloud clients and incorporate the same strength across the board, not only in search.
Gartner analyst Jason Wong said, “Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI is more relevant for its business customers. It could offer disruptive opportunities in consumer businesses as well.”
“Except for gaming, Microsoft has not been a leader in key consumer technologies, such as search, mobile and social media,” he added.
Google has nonetheless noted Microsoft’s challenge. It revealed its own chatbot, named Bard, on Monday. It also plans to release an AI for search that can create content when there are no straightforward answers available online.
Microsoft’s plan to upgrade its Edge browser will also make rival Google’s Chrome more competitive. It anticipates eventually making the improved Bing available for other browsers.
According to Daniel Ives, an analyst with Wedbush Securities, the competition in the search market is currently one of the fiercest in the technology sector as OpenAI positions Microsoft to increase its 9% market share at Google’s expense.
Alphabet reported $42.6 billion in revenue from Google Search and other sources for the quarter that ended on December 31, while Microsoft recorded $3.2 billion from search and news advertising.
