As Microsoft continues to fight for AI dominance, the company has announced its search engine Bing will soon be available to all ChatGPT users.

ChatGPT, which previously relied on data from September 2021 and before, will soon be able to access real time data, one of the major selling points of Google's competing product, Bard.

But Microsoft isn't stopping there. As part of its effort to infuse AI throughout the platform, the software manufacturer also announced it would be bringing its own AI personal assistant to Windows 11 in its annual Microsoft Build event.

Microsoft's Bing is Now the Default Search for ChatGPT Users

After months of only reserving its internet integration to its premium users, OpenAI is planning to open Bing's access for all ChatGPT users. This means that those using the app will soon benefit from Bing's  up-to-date of search and web data, as well as citations.

This is a pretty major milestone for ChatGPT, as the AI-powered chatbot's knowledge database previously only contained information created before September 2021, the training cut-off date.

Not being able to retrieve timely information provided a number of roadblocks for ChatGPT. The chatbot hasn't been able to guarantee that its replies are accurate and relevant to the current time, and it was also ignorant of new concepts that have emerged since the cut-off date.

These limitations have driven many users to jump ship to Google's Bard instead, as the company's LaMDA language model has always been able to offer responses based on real-time research from its search engine.

“Microsoft is announcing that Bing is coming to ChatGPT as the default search experience. ChatGPT will now have a world-class search engine built-in to provide more up-to-date answers with access from the web.” – Frank X. Shaw – Chief Communications Officer, Microsoft

While the battle between Google Bard and ChatGPT isn't expected to cease anytime soon, ChatGPT's decision to make Bing its default search engine removes one of its biggest obstacles – firmly placing the chatbot back in the running.

But when exactly will these changes be appearing on the free version of the app? According to Microsoft's chief-executive Satya Nadella, the plugin is going to be available for regular users “soon”, so ChatGPT devotees shouldn't expect access right away.

What Other AI-Updates Are Coming to Microsoft?

Since Microsoft first partnered up with AI powerhouse and OpenAI creator ChatGPT back in 2016, their relationship has gone from strength to strength. The mutually beneficial partnership has seen Microsoft pump billions of dollars into the AI research lab and has allowed the company to soar past its competition to become the frontrunner in Silicon Valley's AI race.

And Microsoft isn't done yet. After announcing the third phase of its partnership with OpenAI in January of this year, the company revealed a series of additional AI-driven changes it was planning to roll out across its platform in its Build 2023 keynote this week.

Most notably, the software company is bringing its AI personal assistant Copilot to its Windows 11 operating system. This change will bring Copilot, which is already integrated with Microsoft Edge, Office, and GitHub, to the 20% of Windows users that rely on the platform.

Windows Copilot screenshot. Source: microsoft.com

Microsoft also announced its Microsoft 365 Copilot would be supporting plugins like Teams messages, and Power Platform, as well as external options like Adobe and Atlassian.

As Microsoft continues to try and “change the future of work”, this is likely one of many announcements the software company will make this year as they continue to benefit from OpenAI's powerful GP-4 technology.