Microsoft introduced the Bing Chat AI chatbot in February and has continued to roll out improvements as more people gain access. Now there's another feature in the works: image generation powered by DALL-E.

Microsoft said in a blog post, "We're excited to announce we are bringing Bing Image Creator, new AI-powered visual Stories and updated Knowledge Cards to the new Bing and Edge preview. Powered by an advanced version of the DALL∙E model from our partners at OpenAI, Bing Image Creator allows you to create an image simply by using your own words to describe the picture you want to see. Now you can generate both written and visual content in one place, from within chat."

The new feature allows you to ask for direct prompts, like "Can you create me an image of an astronaut walking through a galaxy of sunflowers?" It can also use context from previous messages -- Microsoft showed an example of someone asking for redecoration tips with mid-century modern furniture, and then asking, "create me an image of the living room for inspiration?"

The DALL-E image generator is already available through OpenAI's website, but it's limited to 50 free credits for the first month and 15 per month after that, with each image taking up one credit. Microsoft didn't mention if the image generator in Bing has a maximum limit, beyond Bing's own daily limit (which is around 100 messages right now). Bing could be a way to access DALL-E for free in perpetuity, though it's not exactly the same experience. There are additional limitations "that aim to limit the generation of harmful or unsafe images," and a Bing watermark appears in the corner.

The same image generator is also accessible on the Bing website, which doesn't require Bing Chat at all. It creates images from a prompt in the same way as DALL-E and Bing Chat, with the same Bing watermark in the corner. There also doesn't seem to be a limit on image generation -- just "boosts" that run out as you create images, and after you're out of boosts, image generation may take longer.

Images with prompt "a small astronaut on top of a pizza"

Bing Image Creator is rolling out now to a select group of Bing preview users starting today. There will also be an Image Creator in the Edge side panel. You can try the standalone image generator at bing.com/images/create.

Source: Microsoft