Bing Chat by Microsoft Expands to Third-Party Browsers on Mobile Devices

In late July, Microsoft confirmed that its ChatGPT-like feature, Bing Chat, was being tested in third-party browsers like Chrome and Safari for select users. Today, Microsoft officially announced that Bing Chat will soon be available in various third-party browsers, both on the web and mobile devices.

This development signals Microsoft's intent to compete in the AI space beyond its platforms. Currently, Bing Chat is accessible through the Bing mobile app and Microsoft Edge web browser. With this move, Bing Chat will be positioned against built-in AI tools from other browsers, like Google’s generative AI search capabilities available in the Google mobile app and Chrome browser.

“This next phase allows Bing to demonstrate the remarkable value of summarized answers, image creation, and more to a wider audience,” Microsoft stated while celebrating the six-month anniversary of the AI-powered Bing. “Users can expect many of the fantastic benefits of Bing, and we will continually optimize to cater to your needs across different browsers,” the announcement added.

However, Microsoft cautioned that while Bing Chat will function in users' preferred browsers, the “best” experience is optimized for Microsoft Edge. During testing, users found that Bing Chat on Chrome only allowed five messages per conversation, compared to the 30 messages in Microsoft Edge. Additionally, Chrome restricted the character count to 2,000 versus Edge's 3,000-character limit. Microsoft indicated that Edge users would have access to longer conversations, chat history, and additional Bing features integrated directly into the browser.

The blog post also highlighted several newly launched features, including multimodal visual search in Bing Chat, which allows users to search using both text and images. This feature, which Google first introduced in 2021, leverages OpenAI’s technology, enabling users to submit images to the chatbot and ask related questions.

Moreover, Microsoft announced the launch of Dark Mode for Bing Chat and the recently introduced Bing Chat Enterprise, designed for organizations that require robust commercial data protection. Many companies have restricted employee use of consumer applications like ChatGPT due to data safety concerns, including major firms such as Apple, Samsung, Walmart, Verizon, and several banks including Bank of America, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, and JPMorgan.

Microsoft also revealed impressive milestones achieved by Bing Chat, including over 1 billion chats and 750 million images shared within the platform, in addition to nine consecutive quarters of growth on Edge.

While an exact launch date for Bing Chat in third-party browsers was not disclosed, the feature is expected to arrive soon.

Microsoft to Expand Bing Chat to Chrome and Safari for Select Users