It’s only been a week and a day since Microsoft first announced “the new Bing,’ featuring the AI inspired Bing Chat. We’ve been using it here since Saturday, and while yes there are issues, lots of them, there’s also a lot of promise for what could be a whole new way of searching the internet and getting the information you’re looking for.
We’ve touched on a few of the issues, and we’ll have more reporting both on the possibilities and the pitfalls. But if you’re on the waitlist (if you want to be and haven’t already, you can sign up now), Microsoft has taken to Twitter to provide an update on the process:
Hey all! There have been a few questions about our waitlist to try the new Bing, so here’s a reminder about the process:
We’re currently in Limited Preview so that we can test, learn, and improve. We’re slowly scaling people off the waitlist daily.
If you’re on the waitlist,… https://t.co/06PcyYE6gw pic.twitter.com/Lf3XkuZX2i
— Yusuf Mehdi (@yusuf_i_mehdi) February 15, 2023
Interestingly, it looks like Yusuf Mehdi has taken advantage of Elon Musk’s longer Twitter, here’s the full message:
Hey all! There have been a few questions about our waitlist to try the new Bing, so here’s a reminder about the process: We’re currently in Limited Preview so that we can test, learn, and improve. We’re slowly scaling people off the waitlist daily. If you’re on the waitlist, just hang tight. As we said at launch, we intend to scale to millions of people beginning in the coming weeks. We’re only one week in! We are prioritizing those with Bing and Edge as their default search engine & browser as well as the Bing Mobile app installed to optimize the initial experience. Over time we intend to bring it to all browsers. Demand is high with multiple millions now on the waitlist. So we ask for a little patience if you just joined the waitlist. We’re now testing with people in 169 countries and seeing a lot of engagement with new features like Chat. We can’t wait for you to try it!
48 hours after the announcement last Tuesday, Microsoft announced that “over a million” people had signed up for the waitlist, and now it’s up to “multiple millions,” as interest remains high. As was noted in the waitlist signup page, if you agree to use Bing and Edge and install the Bing Mobile app, you have a chance to get in the program earlier. Microsoft has plans to bring the new Bing to more browsers, but they’re starting with Edge.
One interesting note: during the keynote, Satya said Microsoft was bringing the new Bing to “millions in the coming weeks,” but here Mehdi says “we intend to scale to millions of people beginning in the coming weeks.” Not quite the same thing.
Are you on the waitlist? Have you been accepted? Let us know in the comments below.