Now AI agents are coming: Microsoft pulls the plug on Bing API

Microsoft has announced that it will deactivate the interface to the Bing search engine on August 11, 2025. Because Google does not offer its search results via an interface, developers of alternative search engines such as DuckDuckGo or Brave Search in particular used the interface to Bing as a cost-effective alternative to their own search index. After the integration of ChatGPT into the Bing search, Microsoft increased the prices with the reference to better search results. As an alternative, the US company offers the Azure platform "Grounding with Bing Search".

Large customers have more time to switch

Customers in levels F1 or S1 to S9 with access to Bing Search resources are affected by the deactivation of the interface. Access will also end for customers in the F0 and S1 to S4 levels who use the user-defined Bing search. Microsoft spokesperson Donny Turnbaugh explained the decision to Wired that the shutdown of the interface is part of a strategy to meet the increased demand for AI applications. There is a support plan for affected companies. Citing insiders, the tech magazine reported that large customers such as DuckDuckGo will still receive long-term access, while small developers will lose their access in the near future.

Instead, Microsoft refers to its new service "Grounding with Bing Search", an AI agent of the in-house Azure platform. It enables chatbots to supplement search results based on data from the internet. However, its output does not include search results as raw data, but instead only offers summaries. Compared to the previous interface, the outputs are less flexible and are not suitable for all use cases. Brian Brown, Chief Operating Officer of search engine Brave, told Wired that he suspects Microsoft is taking stronger action against competitors and focusing on large customers and AI business models.

Brave offers its search index via API

Brave Search has no longer been using Bing search results since 2023. Instead, the privacy-conscious search engine from browser provider Brave has developed its own index, which it also offers via an interface. Cohere, Perplexity and Mistral, for example, use this. Up to 2000 queries per month are possible free of charge. There is also a basic rate for five US dollars per 1000 queries and a Pro rate for nine US dollars. The European search engines Ecosia and Qwant are also working together to develop a search index that will offer digital sovereignty from the USA. The publicly funded EU project Open Web Search is pursuing a similar goal and plans to present an open search index this year.

(sfe)