Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Computing
  3. News

Check your inbox — Microsoft just sent out the first wave of ChatGPT Bing invites

Fionna Agomuoh
By

Microsoft’s revamped ChatGPT-powered Bing search engine is here, and the first wave of invites is already out. After previewing the new search engine last week, Microsoft set up a waitlist for the first wave of ChatGPT Bing testers. If you signed up, check your email to see if Microsoft has granted you access.

According to Microsoft, more than 1 million people signed up to get an early preview of the ChatGPT-powered Bing, and for good reason. When we tested the new search engine at Microsoft’s headquarters, it proved itself extremely useful immediately (despite a few rough edges).

Bing copilot AI chat interface.
Andrew Martonik / Digital Trends

While the preview included only a few standard prompts and responses, this full-use ChatGPT option is set to work similarly to OpenAI’s proprietary system. This announcement and rollout occurred not long after Microsoft confirmed an extended collaboration and multibillion-dollar investment with OpenAI. The companies have been working together since 2019.

Recommended Videos

Select Bing users who opted in to test out the ChatGPT support should have received an email invite to try out the new version of the search engine, which remains desktop-only for the easiest access. Microsoft plans to bring the new search engine to phones and tablets eventually, but this early access preview is only available on desktop.

Related

According to Windows Central, the email reads: “We’re excited to give you access to an early preview of the new Bing — your AI-powered copilot for the web. As you start using the product, we would love your feedback to make the new Bing even better – please use the feedback buttons to help us learn. We don’t have a mobile experience ready yet — we are actively working on it and will have it ready soon. Until then, please continue to use the new Bing on desktop and download the Bing app from your favorite app store to ensure you are ready for the best experience when mobile is ready.”

Still, Microsoft hopes the addition of ChatGPT to Bing will help ingratiate users to its products. The brand is not the only one updating its browsers with artificial intelligence. Last week, Opera announced its plans to integrate ChatGPT capabilities into its browser in the form of a “Shorten” button in the address bar, which would allow AI to summarize the text of a webpage or article. Similarly, Google recently announced its own Bard AI tool for its own Chrome browser.

There is no word on how many people have already been granted preliminary access to the new Bing search engine with ChatGPT integration.

Currently, there is a waitlist if you are interested in trying out the new Bing search engine. Simply access bing.com/new then click Join the waitlist. The new version of Bing is expected to be widely available later this year. However, there are some options that can help you move up on the waiting list, including making Microsoft Edge the default on your computer and downloading the Microsoft Bing mobile app via a QR code.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Fionna Agomuoh
Fionna Agomuoh
Computing Writer
Fionna Agomuoh is a technology journalist with over a decade of experience writing about various consumer electronics topics…
ChatGPT shortly devolved into an AI mess
A response from ChatGPT on an Android phone.

I've seen my fair share of unhinged AI responses -- not the least of which was when Bing Chat told me it wanted to be human last year -- but ChatGPT has stayed mostly sane since it was first introduced. That's changing, as users are flooding social media with unhinged, nonsensical responses coming from the chatbot.

In a lot of reports, ChatGPT simply spits out gibberish. For example, u/Bullroarer_Took took to the ChatGPT subreddit to showcase a response in which a series of jargon and proper sentence structure gives the appearance of a response, but a close read shows the AI spitting out nonsense.

Read more
The best custom GPTs to make ChatGPT even more powerful
A person typing on a laptop that is showing the ChatGPT generative AI website.

The introduction of Custom GPTs was one of the most exciting additions to ChatGPT in recent months. These allow you to craft custom chatbots with their own instructions and data by feeding them documents, weblinks, and more to make sure they know what you need and respond how you would like them to.

But you don't have to make your own Custom GPT if you don't want to. Indeed, there are tens of thousands of Custom GPTs already made by engineers around the world, and many of them are very impressive.

Read more
I used ChatGPT to help me make my first game. Don’t make the same mistakes I did
A person typing on a laptop that is showing the ChatGPT generative AI website.

Alongside writing articles about ChatGPT, coming to terms with AI chatbot has been a major mission of mine for the past year. I've found it useful for coming up with recipe ideas from a list of ingredients, writing fun alternate history ideas, and answering board game rules clarifications. But I wanted to see if it could do something more impressive: teach me how to make a game.
The first hurdle
I've wanted to make a game for a while now. I programmed a bunch of basic Flash games when I was a kid -- if you can find my Newgrounds profile, you can have a good laugh at them -- but I've had a few ideas ticking in my mind that have calcified into thoughts that will not shift. I need to make them someday and maybe someday is now.

But knowing how to start making a game isn't easy. I didn't really know what kind of game I was trying to make, or what engine I should use, or how you actually start making a game. Until recently, I just hadn't done it. I'd downloaded Unity once, became intimidated, and uninstalled it.

Read more