Microsoft: New AI plugins coming from Tripadvisor, Trip.com, Skyscanner and more

Microsoft is continuing to move fast in integrating OpenAI’s artificial intelligence technology across its portfolio of products and services.

Among the many announcements at last week’s Microsoft Build 2023 developer conference is news that artificial intelligence plugins – such as those already enabled in ChatGPT – are now operable across all of Microsoft’s products, including the Bing search platform, and new plugins are in development from travel brands Tripadvisor, Trip.com, Skyscanner, Fareportal and Spotnana. 

Plugins connect large language models, such as those used by ChatGPT or Bing Chat, to third-party data sources, enabling them to retrieve real-time information to answer users’ queries and to assist users with actions, such as booking travel.

Microsoft is adopting the same open plugin standard that OpenAI introduced for ChatGPT in March, so plugins built on the standard are interoperable across the Microsoft and OpenAI ecosystems. Expedia and Kayak were two of the first brands to launch plugins for ChatGPT and those will now also be accessible across Microsoft.

In a statement about the updates, Microsoft said, “Developers can now use one platform to build plugins that work across both consumer and business surfaces, including ChatGPT, Bing, Dynamics 365 Copilot (in preview) and Microsoft 365 Copilot (in preview). If users want to develop and use their own plugins with their AI app built on Azure OpenAI Service it will, by default, be interoperable with this same plugin standard. This means developers can build experiences that enable people to interact with their apps using the most natural user interface: the human language.”

Microsoft says the new plugins – a total of more than 50 - will roll out in the coming weeks.

“With plugins built right into chat, across desktop and mobile, Bing makes relevant recommendations based on your conversation. For example, you can use the OpenTable plugin to ask about restaurants or related topics. This becomes even more powerful on mobile when you’re on the go with the Bing mobile app. We are excited for the new opportunities this creates for developers and consumers alike,” wrote Microsoft corporate vice president and consumer chief marketing officer Yusuf Mehdi in a blog post.

As an example of use cases for the new plugins, Mehdi wrote, “The Tripadvisor plugin will help hundreds of millions of people each month become better travelers by leveraging the world’s largest travel guidance platform.”

In response to a request for more details about their Bing plugins, Tripadvisor, Trip.com, Skyscanner and Spotnana all said they don't have any more information to share at this time, and Fareportal did not respond.

In other news from the Build event, Microsoft has created a solution for one of the biggest criticisms leveled at ChatGPT: that its knowledge is only current through September 2021.

Starting immediately for ChatGPT Plus subscribers and soon for everyone, users can choose “Browse with Bing” in the chat platform. With Bing as the default search experience, the system can access up-to-date information from across the web.

“Now, ChatGPT answers can be grounded by search and web data and include citations so you can learn more - all directly from within chat,” Mehdi wrote. 

Separate from Microsoft’s announcements last week, several new travel brands have recently enabled plugins in ChatGPT, including Turo, Klook, GetYourGuide and Trip.com. In February Trip.com became one of the first companies to create a conversational chatbot within its app built on an API from OpenAI.

And last week Google announced substantial updates to its search and marketing tools powered  by generative AI. Google’s new Search Generative Experience (SGE) is capable of answering longer, multi-step searches with information and links brought in from multiple sources.