Chrome and Safari can now use Bing chatbots. Microsoft opens up AI to break free from closed systems.

Microsoft's chatbot, Bing Chat, is about to land on third-party browsers, no longer exclusive to Edge.

Earlier reports stated that Bing Chat can be used in other browsers such as Chrome and Safari. On July 24th, local time, tech media TechCrunch confirmed this news with Microsoft.

This means that Bing Chat will reach a wider user market. Previously, the product was only available on Microsoft Edge browser and Bing APP.

Microsoft confirmed to TechCrunch that Bing Chat is expanding to third-party browsers, but has not made an official announcement yet.

Caitlin Roulston, Microsoft's PR Director, stated in an email statement:

We are testing user access to Bing Chat in Safari and Chrome as part of our testing on third-party browsers.

Once our standard testing procedures are completed, we are excited to expand the access to more users.

Some Bing Chat users reported receiving a pop-up window in the Windows 10 or 11 taskbar, offering them the opportunity to try the product in Chrome. Users can also access the Bing.com website in their preferred browser and click on the "Chat" icon to experience it.

In TechCrunch's own testing, Bing Chat was accessible in Chrome, but currently not in Safari, possibly because the testers were not "selected users".

It was also discovered that Bing Chat on third-party browsers has more usage restrictions compared to the original version.

For example, the first blog to discover this extension, WindowsLatest.com, pointed out that Bing Chat in Chrome only supports 5 messages per conversation, while Microsoft Edge supports 30 messages. The website mentioned that Microsoft also limits the character count to 2000, whereas Microsoft Edge supports 3000.

TechCrunch stated that Microsoft refused to confirm these details, share the differences between different versions of Bing Chat, specify the exact time of landing on third-party browsers, which platforms are supported, and which markets the testing users cover.

In addition to landing on third-party browsers, Bing Chat is reportedly testing a native dark theme.

Since its launch earlier this year, Bing Chat has been striving to integrate with other Microsoft products. Within a few weeks, the new Bing has launched Bing APP and Microsoft Edge browser for iOS, Android, and desktop. And it has also integrated with Skype.

Last week, Microsoft launched Bing Chat Enterprise Edition, allowing businesses to securely handle sensitive commercial data. In addition, some users have discovered that Microsoft quietly released GPT-4 level visual search. Microsoft stated that they are currently working on launching visual search functionality, which will enable chatbots to answer questions related to uploaded images.