Microsoft Made a Bing for AI Agents

Microsoft introduced Web IQ, a specialized search engine API suite tailored for artificial intelligence agents, during its annual Microsoft Build conference on Tuesday. Unlike traditional search engines like Bing, which prioritize human-readable results, Web IQ is designed to deliver condensed, high-quality information for AI systems to process efficiently. The technology leverages Microsoft’s 20 years of experience with Bing while being rebuilt from the ground up to optimize for speed and token efficiency—responding in under 165 milliseconds 95% of the time. Web IQ’s primary function is to provide AI agents with relevant web documents, news, images, and videos in a format that minimizes token usage, reducing costs for AI operations. Jordi Ribas, Microsoft’s president of search and AI, emphasized that while humans rely on ranked search results, AI agents require structured, concise data to perform tasks autonomously. Microsoft claims Web IQ is 2.5 times faster than competing products in token efficiency and latency. The APIs are part of Microsoft IQ, a broader platform announced at the conference, and have already been integrated into Microsoft’s Copilot and OpenAI’s ChatGPT for some time. Ribas noted that while industry estimates suggest AI agents could generate 1,000 times more queries than humans within years, Microsoft anticipates agents will surpass human search volumes by the end of 2024. The company also highlighted that Web IQ powers other unnamed AI systems, though specific details remain undisclosed. Agentic AI, which goes beyond chatbots by autonomously completing tasks, is expected to drive demand for such search tools. Examples include self-driving cars and smart home assistants, but newer AI agents like OpenClaw operate with greater independence. Microsoft’s focus on optimizing search for AI reflects its strategy to dominate the evolving landscape of automated digital interactions, where efficiency and speed are critical.