Microsoft announces new AI-powered features to Bing, Edge

New Delhi, May 4 (IANS) Microsoft on Thursday announced that it will be bringing the next wave of AI-powered innovation for Bing and Edge, including new ways to complete tasks, visual updates, and expanding the availability of the experience to open preview.

"Today I'm thrilled to share we are moving to the next generation of AI-powered Bing and Edge to transform the largest category of software in the world -- search -- by greatly expanding the vision and capabilities we think of as Your Copilot for the Web," Yusuf Mehdi - Corporate Vice President & Consumer Chief Marketing Officer, said in a blogpost.

The company said it will be opening up Bing to more people by moving from Limited Preview to Open Preview and eliminating the waitlist for trial.

With this, it will become easier for users to try the new Bing and Edge by simply signing into Bing with their Microsoft Account.

To make search more visual on Bing, Microsoft has introduced richer, more visual answers, including charts and graphs and updated formatting of answers, helping users find the information they seek more easily.

The company also expanding Image Creator to all languages in Bing -- that's more than 100 languages -- so that users can create images in their native language.

The tech giant is also said to roll out redesigned Microsoft Edge.

In the redesigned version, users will see a sleeker and enhanced user interface, including a streamlined look, rounded corners, organised containers and semi-transparent visual elements.

The company also expanding multi-modal capabilities and is beginning the work to incorporate visual search in chat so that users will be able to upload images and search the web for related content.

To make search more productive, Microsoft has introduced a new feature by which users will be able to pick up where they left off and return to previous chats in Bing chat with chat history.

Starting soon, the company will also be adding export and share functionalities into chat.

Chat in Microsoft Edge will also soon have 'improved summarisation' capabilities for long documents, including PDFs and longer-form websites, making it easier to consume dense online content.

The company also introduced -- Edge actions. Available in the coming weeks, people will soon be able to lean on AI to complete even more tasks with fewer steps, Microsoft said.

Further, Microsoft mentioned that it will soon build third-party plug-ins into the Bing chat experience, creating a platform for developers, for instance, if you're researching the latest restaurant for dinner in Bing chat, it will leverage OpenTable to help you find and book a reservation.