Microsoft brings its Bing chatbot to your fingertips with SwiftKey on Android

Microsoft brings its Bing chatbot to your fingertips with SwiftKey on Android

Illustration: The Verge

Microsoft has added Bing Chat AI to its popular SwiftKey keyboard for Android. The integration started appearing on Wednesday and allows SwiftKey Beta users to quickly access Microsoft’s Bing chatbot at the tap of a button in any app.

The Bing Chat integration inside SwiftKey includes the usual chat mode that offers access to the chatbot, or a tone mode that will rewrite any text right within the keyboard. If you were only using the Bing mobile app to access the chatbot, this new integration makes that app rather redundant if, instead, you’re willing to install and use SwiftKey everywhere.

To access this new Bing Chat integration you’ll need to download the beta version of SwiftKey on the Google Play Store. Pedram Rezaei, Microsoft’s CTO of mobile and commerce, confirmed on Twitter that the feature is “slowly rolling out,” but there’s no word on when SwiftKey iOS users will be able to try it out.

Bing Chat is coming to SwiftKey. Download the latest SwiftKey beta and sign in to your MSA.
Reposted with cleaner screenshots. pic.twitter.com/dBss7gnOzn

— Xeno (@XenoPanther) April 5, 2023

Microsoft discontinued support for SwiftKey on iOS last year, before quickly returning the app to the App Store. At the time Rezaei said Microsoft will be “investing heavily in the keyboard,” just as the company was preparing to publicly launch an AI-powered version of Bing.

While the iOS version of SwiftKey hasn’t been updated regularly, Microsoft’s AI push will likely see this Bing integration appear on the iPhone keyboard side soon. Microsoft might also be responding to competition from a number of AI-powered keyboards on iOS that include ChatGPT integration. Paragraph AI includes an interface that lets you generate text everywhere and is already rising in popularity on iOS.

Microsoft originally acquired SwiftKey in 2016, after the third-party keyboard soared in popularity on Android and iOS. It was the second best Android keyboard in The Verge’s roundup in 2015, thanks to its tracing, autocorrect, and theme support.