Microsoft announces free access to GPT-4 for Bing users
Microsoft has announced that it is making GPT-4 model available to all Bing users, the same underlying engine that powers ChatGPT’s “Plus” subscription service. Previously, Microsoft held access to the GPT-4 version of the Bing chatbot to a “limited preview.” The technology giant also revealed a host of new artificial intelligence (AI) features, including multimodal support, chat history and plug-ins. Bing chatbot now has the ability to generate responses that include a combination of text, images and videos, making it competitive compared to OpenAI’s ChatGPT Plus subscription service. Furthermore, Bing may even be able to reference previous sessions when interacting with users.
Bing Actions
The company announced “Edge Actions,” also referred to as “Bing Actions,” in which third-party plug-ins will be available for Bing chat. The only plug-ins that were specifically mentioned in the announcement are OpenTable and Wolfram/Alpha. Microsoft says more integrations will be revealed as they’re implemented. The new features won’t require any purchases or subscriptions, though users will need a free Microsoft account to take advantage of the Bing chatbot’s full suite of functions.
Comparison with ChatGPT Plus
OpenAI’s ChatGPT Plus service costs $20 per month for access to the same GPT-4 model. However, it doesn't offer image generation, web search or third-party plug-in support. It’s unclear how Microsoft and OpenAI intend to balance their respective offerings. Currently, those paying for ChatGPT Plus receive certain benefits not available to the general public or Bing chatbot users, including early access to new features, priority access to the system even during periods of high traffic and faster response times from the model.
Conclusion
Bing may be giving OpenAI’s subscription service a run for its money, as Microsoft has made GPT-4 model available for free to all Bing users. The company announced a number of AI-powered features, such as multimodal support, that will make Bing more competitive with ChatGPT Plus. The addition of Bing AI to the Windows taskbar gives it a potential global reach of more than half a billion users per month.
