M365 Changelog: (Updated) Bing Chat Enterprise on by default — only for eligible customers

MC649341 – Updated August 29, 2023: Microsoft is providing additional information for clarification.

  • On Monday (August 28.) an update was issued to this post sharing when Bing Chat Enterprise (BCE) would be turned on by default. Due to an email list error, some ineligible customers were included in this communication. Microsoft apologizes for the error and any confusion this caused.
  • In previous announcements, Microsoft shared that BCE is available in preview to customers with: Microsoft 365 E3 and E5; A3 and A5 (faculty only); and Business Standard and Business Premium licenses.
  • If your organization is not licensed with an eligible SKU, BCE is not available to you and no changes will made to turn it on in your organization. To clarify, organizations in government clouds are ineligible.

Updates August 28, 2023: 

  • Bing Chat Enterprise is now turned on by default for eligible customers who have not previously opted out of Bing Chat Enterprise.
    • Turning off Bing Chat Enterprise reverts bing.com/chat, Edge sidebar, and Windows Copilot to using Bing Chat, which does not offer commercial data protection.
  • Additionally, enabling Microsoft Search in Bing will no longer be required to access Bing Chat Enterprise after mid-September (previously late-August).

Previous message follows:

Starting today, Bing Chat Enterprise will be rolling out to eligible Microsoft 365 tenants in Preview—it will be turned off by default.

To turn on Bing Chat Enterprise, you will need to use the link: https://aka.ms/TurnOnBCE.

Bing Chat Enterprise gives your organization AI-powered chat for work with commercial data protection. With Bing Chat Enterprise, user and business data are protected and will not leak outside the organization. What goes in—and comes out—remains protected. Your organization’s chat data is not saved, Microsoft has no eyes-on access to it, and it is not used to train the models.

Learn more about Bing Chat Enterprise: https://aka.ms/BingChatEnterprise.

Register for a Microsoft 365 Copilot and Bing Chat Enterprise AMA (Ask Me Anything) on August 10, 2023 here: https://aka.ms/BingChatEnterpriseAMA 

This change is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID: 151035 

When this will happen:

Bing Chat Enterprise is off by default when it begins rolling out in Preview today.

It will be turned on by default in late August, however you can control whether Bing Chat Enterprise is turned on for your organization by following the instructions provided below. 

How this will affect your organization:

If you turn on Bing Chat Enterprise, users will be able to access it, where supported:

Users must be signed in with their work account (Microsoft Entra ID, currently known as Azure Active Directory) to access Bing Chat Enterprise.

What you need to do to prepare:

To turn on Bing Chat Enterprise for your tenant:

To turn off Bing Chat Enterprise for your tenant or opt-out of Bing Chat Enterprise prior to it turning on by default in late August:

If you take no action and allow Bing Chat Enterprise to be turned on by default in late August, your organization is thereby consenting to the Terms & Conditions.

Note: 

For further details, please see our technical documentation: Bing Chat Enterprise documentation.

Microsoft recommends that once you turn on Bing Chat Enterprise for your organization, you inform your users of the new feature and have them sign into Bing.com/chat or the Microsoft Edge browser with their work account to access it.

Bing.com/chat

Microsoft Edge sidebar (requires Microsoft Edge version 114.0.1823.86 or higher in Stable or Dev channels)

Use the link: https://aka.ms/TurnOnBCE 

Use the link: https://aka.ms/TurnOffBCE 

If turned off, Bing Chat Enterprise will not be turned on by default in late August.

As a temporary measure, organizations will need to have the Microsoft Search in Bing control enabled in the Microsoft 365 admin center to access to Bing Chat Enterprise: Set up Microsoft Search

This requirement will be unnecessary after late August.

Once unnecessary, disabling Microsoft Search in Bing will no longer block Bing Chat Enterprise. To opt-out of Bing Chat Enterprise, please follow the instructions earlier in this communication.

Microsoft is working to bring the Bing Chat Enterprise controls into the Microsoft 365 admin center. Microsoft will provide a follow up notification when they are available.