Microsoft on Thursday said it would integrate OpenAI's soon to be released Dall-E 3 image creation tool into its Bing search engine, in its latest effort to use artificial intelligence to compete with the almighty Google.
Two versions of Dall-E were developed by OpenAI and presaged the massive explosion of interest in generative AI that came when it released ChatGPT late last year.
Dall-E uses machine learning technology to generate digital images from natural language descriptions and the third version, due to be released in October, will use ChatGPT to make it easier for users to get what they want.
Microsoft had already added the ChatGPT-like generative AI interface to Bing in February, empowering the search engine to receive conversational responses to their queries rather than just links to websites.
Dall-E has not come without controversy, drawing lawsuits from artists who say that OpenAI illegally used their work in building their technology.
In an effort to reassure potential clients, Microsoft in September said it will pay any legal damages for customers using Copilot, Bing Chat, and other AI services as long as they use built-in safeguards.
Microsoft has bet big on AI, notably with a $10-billion envelope dedicated to its partnership with OpenAI, and is now trying to monetize this technology by integrating it into its products.
The Redmond, Washington-based group also announced on Thursday that the Bing bot was now able to draw on previous conversations to propose more appropriate responses to new queries from the same user.
This is a breakthrough, as generative AI software is often criticized for its lack of "memory," forcing users to repeat information each time they use it, something they wouldn't do when interacting with a human.
The lack of memory was understood to be a safety feature and Microsoft said the update would be optional.
Also on Thursday, Microsoft announced that its "Copilot" AI assistant, also backed by OpenAI technology, would be available on November 1.
Integrated into the Microsoft 365 software suite and the Windows 11 operating system, Copilot uses generative AI to suggest a response to an email, summarize meetings or create a document comparing internal company data with information gathered on the Internet.
In a similar announcement, archrival Google on Tuesday said it had integrated Gmail, YouTube and other tools into its Bard AI chatbot.
