Microsoft says there are now “many millions” of people on their ChatGPT-powered Bing Chat waiting list — up from over a million a few days ago.
Also: What is ChatGPT and why is it important? Here’s everything you need to know
Just a week ago Microsoft new Bing reveal with chat powered by the next generation version of OpenAI’s GPT-3 big language model behind ChatGPT.
Within two days, it attracted over a million people on the waiting listand now Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft corporate vice president and chief consumer marketing officer, says “millions” are on the waiting list.
“The demand is high with millions of people currently on the waiting list. So we ask for a little patience if you’ve just joined the waitlist” he tweeted. He said Microsoft is “slowly shrinking people off the waitlist” but assured fans it will make good on its promise to “scale it to millions starting in the coming weeks”.
Bing Chat is currently in limited preview while Microsoft tests it with the public — some of whom have been successful in urging it to reveal its codename Sydney and the many rules by which responses its adjusted.
Mehdi also gave some tips for fans to get ahead of the waiting list. Basically, install Edge and make it the default browser and make Bing the default search engine. Alternatively, install the Bing Mobile app.
“We’re prioritizing apps with Bing and Edge as default browser and search engines, and the Bing Mobile app installed to optimize the initial experience. Over time, we plan to do so. bring this app to all browsers,” Mehdi wrote.
Hey guys! We’ve had some questions about our waitlist to try the new Bing, so here’s a reminder of the process:
We’re currently in Limited Preview so we can test, learn, and improve. We are gradually removing people on the daily waiting list.
If you are on a waiting list… https://t.co/06PcyYE6gw pic.twitter.com/Lf3XkuZX2i– Yusuf Mehdi (@yusuf_i_mehdi) February 15, 2023
Microsoft’s search engine is experiencing an unprecedented run in the limelight after being eclipsed by Google Search for the past 14 years. Bing launched in 2009, a decade after Google Search was launched and over the years a Microsoft product that investors love to hate.
Mehdi didn’t reveal how many people were in the limited preview, but he said Microsoft is currently testing the “new Bing” with users in 169 countries. While highlighting the public’s interest in Bing’s new search capabilities, he said Microsoft is “seeing a lot of engagement with new features like Chat”.
Microsoft says the new Bing is running on the next generation of OpenAI’s large language models (LLMs) in the GPT-3 and -3.5 series, making it “more powerful than ChatGPT”.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said this would “fundamentally change” all software, starting with what he said was “the biggest category of all – search”. Microsoft claims the addition of the next-generation GPT version of OpenAI to Bing will result in “the biggest jump in relevance in two decades”. For this task, it developed “Microsoft Prometheus”, a proprietary model that combines with OpenAI’s models to produce more relevant results.
Microsoft has also updated its Edge browser with a new Bing chat and compose sidebar. The new Bing now prompts users to “ask me anything,” enticing users to ask open-ended questions instead of keywords.
If the rumors surrounding ChatGPT appear on Bing as a search engine, then Microsoft could see a significant increase in its user base. ChatGPT achieved 100 million users in just two months to become the fastest growing app of all time.
According to statistics, Bing has 1.2 billion users. But Bing also only accounts for about 4% of the world search market, compared to 92% of Google, according to Statcount GlobalStats.
