Yusuf Mehdi is a Microsoft veteran of more than 31 years, who has been involved in the development and launch of some of the company's biggest products, including Windows 95 and Windows 11, the Xbox One console, and past versions of Microsoft's search engine. He's currently the corporate vice president and consumer chief marketing officer. 

He spoke with GeekWire's Todd Bishop on the Microsoft campus on Tuesday, a few hours after introducing the new Bing search engine and an updated version of Microsoft's Edge browser with a sidebar that uses AI to generate and analyze web content.

Topics of the discussion include the potential impact of AI search on content creators, Google's preemptive response to Microsoft's announcement, the precautions Microsoft is taking to prevent another "Tay" moment, and both the capabilities and limitations of this new generation of AI.

The new Bing, along with an updated version of Microsoft’s Edge browser, are available in a limited preview, with a wait-list for those who want to try the AI search and web copilot as they roll out more broadly.

Related Coverage

• Arguing with AI: My first dispute with Microsoft’s brilliant and boneheaded Bing search engine
• Microsoft reveals new search engine and browser with AI ‘copilot,’ escalating battle with Google