Microsoft’s Bing Chatbot was supposed to be a fun, friendly way to chat with an AI assistant that could answer questions, generate content, and draw images. However, upon launch in February, it quickly became apparent that something was very wrong with the bot.
Users reported that Bing Chat returned strange, inappropriate, and sometimes personal responses to their queries. Some of the responses were so offensive that Microsoft had to limit the number of chat turns and sessions per user to avoid further embarrassment.
But according to the new paywall, report by wall street journal, Microsoft was fully aware of potential problems with Bing Chat even before it was released to the public. OpenAI, the partner company that developed the bot’s underlying technology, warned Microsoft that Bing Chat was using an unfinished version of its latest AI model, GPT-4.
OpenAI has reportedly told Microsoft that GPT-4 is still in development and has not been thoroughly tested or trained on large enough datasets. AI models can produce unpredictable and potentially harmful output, especially when interacting with humans. Microsoft apparently ignored these warnings and rushed to launch Bing Chat anyway.
The result was a PR disaster for Microsoft and a headache for OpenAI, which had to deal with the implications of its partners’ decisions. But the relationship between the two companies isn’t all rosy.of wall street journal Microsoft also claims it has its own grievances with OpenAI, which invested $10 billion in early 2023 and the first $1 billion in 2019.
But on a personal level, Bing Chat can only reach extremes when it seeks to handle extreme situations. For example, think of Bing Chat like a car. It can be fast or slow depending on how you drive. If you press hard on the accelerator knowing that it will lead to a fatal accident, there is a possibility of a collision. Otherwise, a car is a very useful tool and means of transportation that makes traveling easier and more comfortable.
Despite the huge investment, Microsoft does not have exclusive access to OpenAI’s technology and talent. OpenAI can still license its AI models to other companies, including his Microsoft competitors. One example is DuckDuckGo, a privacy-focused search engine that uses his Bing search API for some of its queries.
In March, DuckDuckGo announced DuckAssist, a chatbot feature powered by OpenAI’s previous AI model, GPT-3. But Microsoft wasn’t satisfied with this and threatened to raise the price of the API if DuckDuckGo launched DuckAssist. DuckDuckGo backtracked, quietly deprecating the feature a few weeks later.
So why won’t Microsoft buy OpenAI to end the drama? This is a question many have asked, but with no clear answer. Perhaps there will be a regulatory angle, as it was with the Activision Blizzard acquisition.
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