Bing Chat Is Getting A Bunch Of New Features, Including An AI Widget

We're off to the races with artificial intelligence. Google I/O made clear some of the search giant's plans to bolster most of its digital products with AI features. Google's heavy participation alone almost guarantees AI's propagation across nearly all industries and services, and it's certainly lit a fire under competitors like Microsoft.

After making Bing Chat available to all users earlier in May, Microsoft is adding to Bing and Edge with a truckload of new AI-powered features today. One of the most notable updates to the Bing app is the introduction of a Bing Chat widget for iOS and Android home screens.

The Bing widget provides quick access to the new Bing Chat experience. It includes a search box that you can type your typical queries into, but also a dedicated button taking you directly to the chat experience. There's also a microphone for voice queries, and a dedicated button to initiate a private search experience. Once updated, you can add the Bing widget by touching and holding an empty area on your home screen.

With an easier way to chat with your new virtual companion on mobile, Microsoft has made it easier to pick the conversation back up on your desktop. Bing will pick up where you left off. The reverse is also true: you can start a chat on your desktop and continue on the go using your smartphone. That feature is rolling out over the next week.

Microsoft's SwiftKey will also see some exciting updates. The keyboard's new Compose feature will now draft text according to user-specified parameters like the subject matter, tone, format, and length. Android and iOS users will get access within the next two weeks.

Additionally, SwiftKey users will gain access to Bing's AI-supported translation directly within the keyboard app. Android users already have the update, and iOS users will join them within the week. Speaking of language improvements, Bing has expanded its language support for voice input and enhanced the quality of non-English chats.

The Microsoft Edge browser is slated to receive two new features: Contextual Chat and Selected Text Actions. These features will allow users to ask Bing Chat questions related to the content they're viewing and get deep context for any text in the app. The Skype app will also benefit from integrating Bing in all group chats. You can call on Bing just as you would anyone by typing "@Bing" and start asking questions.

Microsoft is just getting started. We'll see much more in short order, as the company has committed to announcing new improvements and advancements over the next 100 days. If you make apps, you'll want to pay close attention to Microsoft Build, the developers' conference taking place in Seattle starting May 23. Microsoft has already confirmed Bing APIs for third-party apps, so expect the floodgates to burst open for all developers reasonably soon.