Microsoft’s New OpenAI-Powered Bing ⇥ wsj.com

Joanna Stern, Wall Street Journal:

Microsoft’s new Bing and Edge became available in a limited preview Tuesday. You have to sign up on bing.com for the preview wait list, and once you are in, you’ll have to use the Edge browser (available for Windows and MacOS). Microsoft plans to bring it to other web browsers over time.

It’s far too early to call a winner in this AI search race. But after seeing the new Bing in action, I can confidently say this: A big change is coming to how we get information and how we interact with our computers.

Microsoft announced today’s event unveiling these developments midday yesterday, hours after Google announced its efforts in the space, as it has done before. I am not sure whether to read this as panic or excitement, though Meta’s caution is notable.

Late last night, I assembled a series of links with commentary about this nascent field. I think it holds up. While Microsoft may be the first to play its cards, I cannot imagine Google will not quickly respond.

The big question right now is, I think, where Amazon and Apple are at internally. Are they racing to compete with Alexa and Siri? Are they maybe waiting it out to see if this is a real, exciting development, or yet more baseless hype like so many technology land rushes before it? Or, a third possibility: are either of them concerned about the ethical consequences of these kinds of products outweighing their benefits? I mean, I doubt it — business, baby! — but it would be nice if any company considered it.