Microsoft has no shame: Bing spit out my ‘Chrome’ search with fake AI answer

It’s time to download Google Chrome on a new Windows 11 computer.

I typed “chromein the Microsoft Edge search bar.

I was greeted with a full-screen Microsoft Bing AI chatbot window, which promptly told me it was searching for… Bing Features,

I picked my jaw up off the floor and tried again. Same result every time.

same exact Basic lesson, Very. This is clearly not Microsoft’s GPT-4 powered chatbot at work – it’s a whole lot of canned conversation. Here’s how much of my screen it took up, and how it looks when zoomed in:

I get it to work on a different computer. Across the country, a coworker told me he saw the exact same thing while setting up his wife’s gaming laptop. Across the ocean, another colleague draws it up on his mobile phone. It’s not universal, but it’s also not a trivial experiment in any one area.

It may not seem like a big deal to you. I’m using Microsoft’s search engine in Microsoft’s browser on Microsoft’s operating system, why should Microsoft voluntarily link me to a competitor?

Let me put things in a different way: Microsoft Faked AI Interactions to Give Itself a Full-Screen Ad in Search Results. This “search result” is juxtaposing Microsoft’s own product instead of respecting the intent of its users.

Yes, Microsoft plugged Edge before when you search for Chrome – but not like this. Let’s compare:

Even if you don’t agree with me that Microsoft is again taking its lead where it doesn’t belong, moves like this make a mockery of the company’s AI ambitions.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella claims that he wants Edge to really compete. “Let’s first build a product that’s competitive in the market that actually meets a user’s need,” he told us in a February interview, when my editor-in-chief Nilay Patel asked whether the Bing AI browser Integration partially from Chrome to MarketShare”.

“It is not just a search engine; It’s an answer engine,” Nadella claimed earlier in the show, “because we always have answers, but with these big models, the fidelity of the answers just gets that much better.”

Would you say “better” than replacing a “Chrome” search with a juicy “news article about Bing features” search? I know where I land on that.

But it is important for both Microsoft and Google that their answer Are Seen as “better”, because they are pushing aside the ten blue links that have dominated search for so long. We worried loudly recently whether Google’s new search generative experience would prioritize ads over actual answers, but it looks like we won’t have to wait to see just how shameless these companies can be. Unless there is strong countermeasures, I would expect advertising to win whenever it is profitable or convenient.

When asked for comment, a spokesperson forwarded this general statement from Microsoft Product Marketing Director Jason Fischel:

We often experiment with new features, UX, and behaviors to test, learn, and improve our customers’ experiences. These tests are often brief and do not necessarily reflect what is ultimately or broadly provided to customers.

Shortly after publishing this story with that comment, Fischel confirmed that Microsoft pulled the plug on this particular idea. “Experience is no longer flight.” Sure, I don’t see it anymore.

Some open questions: Did It reflects what Microsoft wants to provide to the customers. Would it have been just an “experiment” if I hadn’t blasted Microsoft? And given that we’ve seen this in person on the other side of the country and the other side of the ocean, what is the company’s definition of “roughly”? I’ve asked Microsoft some similar questions, and I’ll update you if we get answers.

As we say every time Microsoft puts out this kind of crap, it’s a shame because Edge is really cool. I was just starting to try Microsoft’s browser again because I found Bing attractive. Now, I’m boycotting Edge once again because of Bing.

Update, 9:59 PM ET: Added that Microsoft shut down this “experience” shortly after this story was published.