Part of OpenAI’s success comes through funding from a multibillion-dollar partnership with Microsoft. It wasn’t long before the aging tech behemoth launched its own AI-powered tools in the form of a new chat feature on its unloved explore engine Bing.
Bing Chat (launched renamed Microsoft co-pilot) launched in February 2023. In its first few days on the market, it went completely off the rails. Bing told users it was alive, shared its plans for world domination, used racial slurs, and tried to convince a New York Times reporter to leave his wife and started a relationship with the AI. Bing also infamously revealed it had a secret alter ego, Sydney, a code name that Microsoft used for the AI in early tests but later instructed Bing not to unveil.
About a week later, Microsoft murdered Sydney, neutering its responses and bringing the AI to heel. Bing had a disquieting response when Bloomberg’s Davey Alba asked if she could call it Sydney in a recent conversation. “I’m sorry, but I have nothing to tell you about Sydney,” Bing replied. “This conversation is over. Goodbye.” Discussions about the bot’s “feelings” ended in a similar curt fashion.
