Microsoft has recently announced a major upgrade to its Bing search engine, with the launch of their “Edge Actions” feature which incorporates Microsoft Edge and Bing Chat into one streamlined product. The new service leverages OpenAI’s GPT-4 to help Bing users complete a range of tasks and allows for integrated third-party use. For example, the reservation service OpenTable has partnered with Bing, allowing users to book restaurant tables with ease.
The “memory” feature has also been improved, ensuring users can revisit previous conversations without being limited to single-use chats. Over the past three months, this new search engine has gained over 100 million daily active users and has already amassed over 500 million conversations. Microsoft is pushing hard to compete with its long-time rival, Google, and Bing’s improved chat feature could be the edge it needs.
Microsoft is an American information technology company based in Washington and founded in 1975. Currently, they specialize in developing and selling computer hardware, as well as developing and licensing software and providing support services. Microsoft is widely recognized for its software, with Windows and Office being marketed as industry staples, and their cloud-based services in Azure, Xbox and Office365 being widely popular.
Satya Nadella is the current CEO of Microsoft, appointed in 2014 after previously working in various positions within the company since 1992. Nadella is credited for radical changes he has brought to the company, with the perception of Microsoft changing from a traditional, monolithic software maker to a more modern technology conglomerate. He has taken a more pragmatic stance on many of Microsoft’s ventures and the revitalization of the Bing search engine may be an example of Nadella’s more innovative leadership.
