Technologies

Microsoft Tests New Bing AI Personalities as It Allows Longer Chats

Microsoft had restricted exchanges earlier after a series of news articles and social media posts about strange responses in long conversations.

Microsoft said it’s expanding the lengths of chats people can have with the test version of its Bing AI, while the company’s also begun testing different «tone» personalities for more precise or more creative responses. The company’s moves follow efforts to restrict access to the technology after media coverage of the artificial intelligence chatting app going off the rails went viral last week.

Bing Chat can now respond to up to six questions or statements in a row per conversation, after which people will need to start a new topic, the company said in a blog post Tuesday. Microsoft had previously imposed a conversation limit of five responses, with a maximum of 50 total interactions per day. Microsoft said it will now allow 60 total interactions per day and plans to increase that total to 100 «soon.»

Microsoft also said it’s testing options for people to choose the tone of their conversations, whether they prefer Bing to be more precise in its responses, more creative or somewhere between the two.

Ultimately, the tech giant said it hopes to allow longer and more intricate conversations over time but wants to do so «responsibly.»

«The very reason we are testing the new Bing in the open with a limitedset of preview testers is precisely to find these atypical use casesfrom which we can learn and improve the product,» the company said in a statement.

Microsoft’s moves mark the latest twist for its Bing AI chatbot, which made a splash when it was announced earlier this month. The technology combines Microsoft’s less-popular Bing search engine with technology from startup OpenAI, whose ChatGPT responds to prompts for everything from being asked to write a poem to helping write code and even everyday math to figure out how many bags can fit in a car.

Experts believe this new type of technology, called «generative AI,» has the potential to remake the way we interact with technology. Microsoft, for example, demonstrated how its Bing AI could help someone plan a vacation day by day with relative ease.

Last week, though, critics raised concerns that Microsoft’s Bing AI may not be ready for prime time. People with early access began posting bizarre responses the system was giving them, including Bing telling a New York Times columnist to abandon his marriage, and the AI demanding an apology from a Reddit user over whether we’re in 2022 or 2023.

Microsoft said that the «long and intricate» chat sessions that prompted many of the unusual responses were «not something we would typically find with internal testing.» But it hopes that improvements to the program, including its potential new choice of tone for responses, will help give people «more control on the type of chat behavior to best meet» their needs.

More on AI chatbots

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for March 15, #538

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for March 15, No. 538.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today is Selection Sunday, and the Connections: Sports Edition puzzle is all about the NCAA basketball tournament. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Oops!

Green group hint: Not the second word.

Blue group hint: They direct the team.

Purple group hint: They made it to the Big Dance.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Basketball fouls.

Green group: First words in NCAA tournament rounds.

Blue group: Women’s college basketball coaches.

Purple group: Teams qualified for the 2026 Men’s NCAA tournament.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is basketball fouls. The four answers are block, charge, hold and reach-in.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is first words in NCAA tournament rounds. The four answers are elite, final, second and sweet.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is women’s college basketball coaches. The four answers are Auriemma, Close, Ivey and Staley.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is teams qualified for the 2026 Men’s NCAA tournament. The four answers are Gonzaga, High Point, Queens and Troy.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, March 15

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for March 15.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Today’s wasn’t terribly tough, but read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: On-call doctor’s device
Answer: PAGER

6A clue: Amazon virtual assistant
Answer: ALEXA

7A clue: Host of the 2026 Oscars
Answer: CONAN

8A clue: Stumped on a puzzle, say
Answer: STUCK

9A clue: Aves. and blvds.
Answer: STS

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Election-influencing groups, for short
Answer: PACS

2D clue: Quite a few
Answer: ALOT

3D clue: The «Tyrannosaurus» of Tyrannosaurus rex
Answer: GENUS

4D clue: Right on
Answer: EXACT

5D clue: Puts in order from best to worst, maybe
Answer: RANKS

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for March 15, #1008

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for March 15, No. 1,008

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is kind of tough, but the yellow category has some fun options in it. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Mine, all mine!

Green group hint: A part you might use to build something.

Blue group hint: Blended words.

Purple group hint: Not a cow, but close.