Microsoft has revealed a significant enhancement of its AI-powered search capabilities, introducing new features that enable visual and multimodal searches as well as continuous chat tools. These updates substantially broaden the functionality of Bing, Microsoft’s search engine, and Edge, its web browser.
For the past three months, a limited group of users have had the opportunity to test the new AI search features in a restricted preview. Microsoft has now announced that it is transitioning Bing and Edge into an open preview, which permits anyone to try out the new tools by logging in with a Microsoft account. This move indicates that Microsoft considers the new features ready for broader use and user feedback.
Divya Kumar, Microsoft’s Global Head of Marketing for Search and AI, expressed excitement about the new Bing becoming more accessible to those interested in trying it out. This accessibility will enable the company to gather more user data, which in turn will help improve and expand the search experience more quickly. In an interview with VentureBeat, Kumar highlighted the rapid shift from a text-based experience to a visually rich, conversational one in just 90 days, attributing the fast progress to the power of AI and the invaluable feedback received from users.
