Microsoft has announced the launch of Bing Chat Enterprise, a business-focused version of its AI-powered chatbot experience. The new offering aims to address concerns around data privacy and governance by implementing robust controls. With Bing Chat Enterprise, customer chat data is not saved, ensuring enhanced protection. Microsoft also ensures that it does not have access to a customer’s employee or business data, and customer data is not used in training the underlying AI models.
Frank X. Shaw, Microsoft’s chief communications officer, highlighted the importance of protecting corporate data while empowering organizations with AI tools. He stated that Bing Chat Enterprise provides commercial customers with managed access to valuable insights, increased efficiency, and new creative possibilities.
The introduction of Bing Chat Enterprise comes as businesses have raised concerns about the security of their data when using chatbot platforms. Recent actions from companies such as Apple, Samsung, and Verizon have limited the internal use of tools that trained chatbot models on confidential user data.
According to a survey by Cyberhaven, a significant number of employees have copied and pasted company data into chatbot platforms like ChatGPT. The need for robust data controls is evident, and Microsoft’s Bing Chat Enterprise aims to address these concerns by guaranteeing the protection of sensitive information.
In terms of functionality, Bing Chat Enterprise offers similar features to its predecessor, Bing Chat. It can answer queries in text, as well as provide information through graphs, charts, and images. Employees can seek assistance from Bing Chat Enterprise for tasks such as creating messaging for new products or comparing products with competitors. They can include sensitive data, such as product specifications and pricing, in their requests.
In the future, Bing Chat Enterprise will introduce Visual Search, a feature that allows users to upload images and search the web for related content. By leveraging AI capabilities, Bing Chat Enterprise can understand the context of an image and provide relevant information.
Bing Chat Enterprise is available in preview and can be used wherever Bing Chat is supported, including Bing.com/chat, the Microsoft Edge sidebar, and soon from Windows Copilot. It is free for customers subscribed to Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Business Standard, and Business Premium plans. In the future, it will also be available as a standalone offering for $5 per user per month.
Monetizing AI-powered chatbot technologies is a significant challenge due to infrastructure costs. Estimates suggest that Bing Chat alone requires at least $4 billion worth of infrastructure to handle user requests. Microsoft’s introduction of Bing Chat Enterprise is part of its effort to make these technologies sustainable in the long run.
This announcement follows the release of Copilot for Business by Microsoft-owned GitHub, which offers an enterprise version of an AI-powered code completion tool. OpenAI, the company behind Bing Chat’s underlying GPT-4 model, has also introduced ChatGPT Plus, a paid service that provides additional benefits to users.
Overall, Microsoft’s launch of Bing Chat Enterprise underscores the company’s commitment to data privacy and governance in AI-powered chatbot experiences. With enhanced controls and protection mechanisms, businesses can leverage the power of AI while ensuring the security of their sensitive data.
