Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) made quite a splash when it first showed off Bing AI chat. Yet at first, it looked like a walled garden of its own, sticking mainly to the Microsoft Edge browser. However, Microsoft took an exciting new step forward to expand the reach of Bing and its AI functionality, a point that didn’t win it many fans with investors. Microsoft was down somewhat in Tuesday afternoon’s trading as a result.
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The move in question featured Microsoft taking Bing, and its AI systems, out of Microsoft Edge and opening up the pool to work on other browsers. The move will take some time to complete, and not surprisingly, Microsoft recommends users continue to turn to Microsoft Edge for their AI dalliances. However, Bing users will soon be able to access the platform—and all its accoutrements, from Bing Image Creator to multimodal visual search—from other browsers as well.
Bing first started branching out back in February, when Android and iOS browsers got a taste of the action with Bing Chat access. Soon, all mobile browsers will be able to get in on the action. This was probably necessary, though; Microsoft recently announced that it had “…seen nine consecutive quarters of growth on Edge,” a measure which inherently limits the pool. It was likely running out of room to grow, and if it wanted a tenth—or even 11th—quarter of growth, it was going to have to expand its total potential user base.
Meanwhile, analysts are nearly all-in on Microsoft. Currently, analyst consensus calls Microsoft stock a Strong Buy thanks to 31 Buy ratings, one Hold and one Sell. Further, Microsoft stock comes with an upside potential of 21.23% thanks to its average price target of $392.97.
