Microsoft’s recent announcement of integrating OpenAI’s large language model, ChatGPT, into its Bing search engine has caused a significant surge in its popularity. The Bing app has seen a 10x increase in new downloads, according to data.ai, and has risen to the No. 12 spot on the U.S. App Store among all free iPhone apps. The Edge browser has also seen an increase, rising to the No. 3 Utility app on the U.S. App Store.
The integration of AI capabilities in Bing has caused a lot of excitement among users who are eager to try out the new ChatGPT-like experience. The new Bing allows users to converse with an AI chatbot for help with more complex queries and content creation tasks. Microsoft has also demonstrated a new version of its Edge browser with the same AI features built into the sidebar for easy access.
However, the new Bing is currently in a limited preview and users who want to try out the new AI features have to join a waitlist. Microsoft has cleverly introduced a way to move up the waitlist by suggesting users set Bing as their default search engine on their PC and install the Bing app on their smartphone. This has clearly inspired the rapid climb of the Bing app on the App Store charts.
The sudden popularity of Bing has caused a potential threat to Google, who pays billions per year to be the default search engine in Safari. If a large number of consumers move to another search app like Bing or Edge to try out the new AI capabilities, Google could lose market share on one of the largest platforms consumers use to browse the web.
The rapid rise of Bing’s app is a clear signal of the demand for AI and the potential for Microsoft’s search engine. While the specific figures for total new installs may become available in the weeks ahead, it’s clear that the integration of AI has juiced the popularity of Bing and Edge on the iPhone.
