Bing

Bing is Microsoft's search engine, described in the retrieved materials primarily through its strategic role in the search API market and the AI era. According to a Yunqi Capital podcast featuring Xiaosu Technology CEO Du Zhiheng, Bing's search API was historically "the most mainstream product globally" for real-time data access, powering not only enterprise clients but also consumer search products like Yahoo and DuckDuckGo . In Du's analysis, Microsoft treated these as regional or vertical supplements rather than strategic competitors—until the AI era, when search APIs gained new significance as tools that could enable competing products like Perplexity and various deep research AI applications . The same source notes that Microsoft has since moved to restrict API access, with Du interpreting this as aimed at preventing "cheaply available APIs" from creating more competitors and instead combining "data capability and model capability" for Microsoft's own advantage . A separate Linear Capital piece notes that Perplexity's founder initially feared Microsoft's 2023 launch of Bing Chat as an existential threat, though he later concluded Microsoft "has never been good at consumer products" and failed to capitalize on its opportunity . The retrieved materials do not cover Bing's founding date, market share, or product features beyond these strategic and competitive dynamics.