Microsoft builds text robot ChatGPT into search engine

In the competition for the best Internet search engine of the future, Microsoft is attacking market leader Google. The US software company wants to build an even more powerful variant of the text robot ChatGPT into its Bing search engine.

The US company Microsoft is making a new attempt to oust the search engine market leader Google from its dominant position. The Internet search engine Bing from Microsoft is to be equipped with a particularly powerful variant of the text robot ChatGPT. This so-called chatbot from the company OpenAI uses artificial intelligence.

The technology will help refine search queries to deliver more relevant and up-to-date results, the company said last night. “This technology will transform just about every category of software,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at corporate headquarters in Redmond.

Users should be able to talk to Bing

Internet users should be able to have real conversations with Bing. The plan is for them to enter text requests of up to 1,000 characters and receive answers in full sentences in a chat.

This should decisively change the way people search the Internet. A normal search will show results as a long list of links. The new Bing version also offers the chat function – where users can enter, for example:

The result is a text with detailed information. For example, a response could be:

Microsoft promises answers in around 100 languages. Bing is to receive a further development of the publicly available ChatGPT program. This should no longer be limited to the state of knowledge up to 2021. The company also promises that the answers have source information. So there should be references to where the information came from.

Not all answers are correct

But what was already a problem in the first versions of ChatGPT: Not all information is correct. This is shown by the first tests by journalists. Microsoft doesn’t deny that at all – and speaks of “hallucinations”. Sometimes search queries are misinterpreted, according to the company. Critics accuse the technology of promoting the spread of misinformation.

The new version of Bing should be available to more and more people in the coming weeks. Microsoft speaks full-bodied of the “beginning of a new era”. It should be clear that the course is currently being set in the competition between the tech giants for dominance in the artificial intelligence (AI) business.

Google is also following suit with a chatbot

Just on Monday, Google announced its own chatbot called Bard. In addition, the US company’s search engine is to be equipped with appropriate functions. “Microsoft is committed to winning this AI battle,” said Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities.

So far, Bing has lagged far behind Google in terms of search engine market share. In the global desktop search engine market, Google achieved a market share of 84.7 percent in January. Bing was in second place with just 8.9 percent.

With information from Nils Dampz, ARD Studio San Francisco.