What Is Bing AI Chat?

Bing Chat—also referred to as “New Bing”—is an integration of ChatGPT with Microsoft’s search engine. Similar to how Samsung has its own flavor of Android, Bing Chat is essentially Microsoft’s flavor of ChatGPT.

To understand Bing Chat, you must understand ChatGPT. They are AI chatbots built on OpenAI’s large language models (LLMs). Essentially, the chatbot is fed an enormous amount of text data for “training.” It uses that data to predict what the next word in a sentence should be. The goal is to get it to a point where it can generate human-like responses to prompts.

The big difference between Bing Chat and ChatGPT is how Microsoft has customized it. Bing Chat is tuned for search, and it’s clear about that when you use it. Bing shows you what it’s searching for, and it lists sources for everything. Also, Bing is using OpenAI’s latest LLM, GPT-4, while ChatGPT has GPT-4 locked behind the paid “Plus” subscription.

How to Chat With Bing AI

To use Bing AI Chat, you can simply go to bing.com in Microsoft Edge and select the “Chat” tab. Check out our guide if you want to use Bing Chat in Google Chrome. We’ll demonstrate how to use it on the desktop here, but it also works on iPhone and Android (as shown in the section below).

First, make sure you’re signed into your navigate to bing.com in Microsoft Edge and make sure you’re signed in with your account. Click the “Chat” shortcut in the top menu.

You’re now looking at a page with a text box at the bottom. Before you start chatting, pick one of Bing’s three conversation styles:

• More Creative: Longer, more descriptive, and “imaginative” answers.
• More Precise: Shorter, straightforward search-focused answers.
• More Balanced: Informative and friendly, somewhere between the other styles.

With a conversation style chosen, type a prompt in the text box and hit enter.

Before Bing starts answering, you can see what’s happening in the background.

Bing “types” the answer in real time. When it’s done, the sources are shown at the bottom of the text bubble.

How to Use Bing Chat on iPhone and Android

The AI chatbot feature can be easily accessed on iPhone and Android with the Bing app. First, download the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

Open the app and tap “Get Started” if prompted to try the “New Bing.”

Next, tap “Sign In and Join” to continue. You may already be signed in from using other Microsoft apps.

To start chatting with Bing AI, tap the speech bubble icon in the center of the bottom bar.

You’ll be asked to allow Bing to access your location. This is used to location-based questions and answers. You can turn off “Precise” location (iPhone, Android) or not grant permission at all.

The first thing to do is pick one of Bing’s three conversation styles:

• More Creative: Longer, more descriptive, and “imaginative” answers.
• More Precise: Shorter, straightforward search-focused answers.
• More Balanced: Informative and friendly, somewhere between the other styles.

Now you can tap the microphone icon to say your prompt out loud—and hear the answer out loud. Tap the keyboard icon to type your prompt.

Bing Chat is somewhat integrated into the Windows 11 Start Menu and Search feature—it appears when you start doing a search. However, at the time of writing, it’s really just a shortcut to the web version of Bing Chat shown in the section above.

First, open the Start Menu or click the search icon/box in the taskbar.

If you go the search route, you’ll see the Bing Chat button immediately on the right side of the menu. From the Start Menu, you’ll need to start typing first. Click the button to go to the Bing Chat website.

Alternatively, you can start your prompt in the Start Menu/search by typing it out, then click the “Chat” button on the left side of the menu. This will take you to the Bing Chat website with the prompt already submitted.

Now you’re able to use Bing Chat just like you would anywhere else! While it’s a little clunky to still be taken to the browser, this is a nice little shortcut for Windows users.

Microsoft launched the new Bing Chat feature with a waitlist, but that waitlist has seemingly been removed. Since March 16, 2023, most people are now able to sign up and immediately get access. Microsoft did not confirm if it removed the waitlist.

• To get access to Bing Chat, head over to bing.com/new in the Microsoft Edge browser. Click “Join the Waitlist.”
• After signing in and following the steps, you’ll get an email that says you’re on the waitlist.
• When you have access to Bing, you’ll get another email that says “You’re in!”

That’s the low-down on Bing Chat, New Bing, Bing AI, Bing Chatbot, or whatever you want to call it. Microsoft is leveraging OpenAI’s work on large language models to infuse Bing with many impressive features. It’s already one of the best ChatGPT competitors—if not better—and Microsoft is in a good position for the competitive AI market.