What you need to know
- Microsoft announced that it would integrate Bing into ChatGPT during Build 2023.
- ChatGPT has been using OpenAI's GPT-4 model to power its search experience.
- The model lacks knowledge of events that transpired past September 2021.
- The Bing integration will let users access timely answers based on the web.
- You'll need a ChatGPT Plus subscription to access this feature.
OpenAI has shipped a new update for its chatbot, the ChatGPT app for iOS. The update brings significant enhancements and improvements to the platform, but the most notable addition is the Browse with Bing feature.
ChatGPT users can now use Microsoft’s Bing as their default search engine, as highlighted in the official release notes for the latest app version. However, it’s worth noting that this addition will only be limited to users with a ChatGPT Plus subscription, currently priced at $20 per month.
Prior to this addition, ChatGPT was running on OpenAI’s GPT-4 model. This was a major deterrent and setback to the platform as it limited its access to vast resources. Users could only use it to access information up to September 2021.
- Satya Nadella admits Microsoft missed an opportunity as ChatGPT and Copilot gain popularity — even OpenAI's Sam Altman "doesn't do Google searches anymore"
- OpenAI's "Google killer" AI-powered search experience is now freely available for everyone — you'll no longer need an account or $20 subscription plan, but don't ask silly questions either
OpenAI has been pushing updates to its chatbot for the past few months to enhance its search experience. In April, the company started rolling out a new browsing experience for ChatGPT users that allows it to access current information, thus replicating a similar experience to Bing Chat.
According to OpenAI’s blog post announcing the release of its latest multimodal large language model, GPT-4:
GPT-4 generally lacks knowledge of events that have occurred after the vast majority of its data cuts off (September 2021), and does not learn from its experience.
OpenAI
Following Microsoft’s extended partnership with OpenAI earlier this year after making a multi-billion dollar investment, the company announced that OpenAI would start using Bing as its default search engine in ChatGPT during Build 2023. And it now seems that the company is living up to that promise in a bid to help ChatGPT users get timely answers based on the web.
To access web browsing with Bing feature, you must be running the latest version of the application on your device (v1.2023.173). From this point, you can now navigate through the app’s settings and enable the Browsing option in the New Features section. Next, tap GPT-4 in the model switcher and select Browse with Bing from the drop-down menu.
Here’s the full changelog for the latest version of the ChatGPT app for iOS as listed in the App Store:
- Browsing: Plus users can now use Browsing to get comprehensive answers and current insights on events and information that extend beyond the model's original training data. To try it out, enable Browsing in the "New Features" section of your app settings. Then select GPT-4 in the model switcher and choose "Browse with Bing" in the drop-down.
- Search History Improvements: Tapping on a search result takes you directly to the respective point in the conversation
In other ChatGPT news, it's now possible to leverage ChatGPT capabilities on PCs running Windows 3.1 via the WinGPT app. Moreover, you'll need a proxy machine to run the program since WinGPT runs on OpenAI's APIs.
