Bing’s AI Image Creator is faster with ‘boosts’ earned by committing to Microsoft’s ecosystem

Andrew Romero | Mar 24 2023 - 11:01 am PT

With the integration of Bing’s AI-driven chat and the Image Creator from Microsoft, getting AI to draw unique and complex images is a lot easier, thanks to the conversational nature it provides. However, users looking to create tons of images will soon find that Microsoft throttles image processing speed past a certain threshold, forcing you to earn “boosts” for faster image creation in Bing.

Microsoft’s Bing chat has made headlines consistently over the past couple of weeks. The most recent development is the addition of Bing Image Creator in the chat, which lets users request images during a conversation with the chatbot. As opposed to requesting a simple prompt, the chatbot now allows users to modify images by asking for changes. This new system adds a layer of complexity in a sort of draft and review process.

If you’re new to Image Creator through Bing, you’ll notice that the process is painless. Simply ask Bing to draw you something and it’ll get to work, producing an image in about 10 seconds or less. What you might not notice is that in order to get quickly processed images, you’re using “Boosts,” a game-like reward mechanic Microsoft has put in place to limit server tiedown.

It looks like every Microsoft user in Bing chat starts with 25 boosts for the Image Creator. Once those are used through image creation, image processing time takes a huge increase, sometimes taking up to five minutes for a single set of four images. Users can redeem more Bing Image Creator boosts by trading in Microsft Rewards in a somewhat complicated process– you can earn those rewards by doing things in Microsoft Edge. Here are a few current examples, most of which can be completed simply by clicking the card they appear in:

Complete daily rotating tasks
Check out Microsoft’s top stories
Switch to “Give Mode” in Bing
Search for movie theaters near you

Are you seeing a pattern yet?

While this is a little frustrating, seeing as Microsoft angled the Image Creator integration with Bing chat as an easy and seamless experience, it does make sense that the company would want to limit the resources used per user. Bing Image Creator is using an advanced DALL-E model with OpenAI, which undoubtedly does not come cheap. Comparatively, DALL-E 2 is free but uses the same system of credits traded in for image processing. With this advanced model and very fast processing speed, Microsoft could potentially be trying to heighten usage numbers.

According to an advertisement played during image creation, Microsoft will replenish Bing’s Image Creator boosts on a “weekly basis” as opposed to supplying users with a fixed amount and expecting them to redeem more. It’s unknown how many boosts are given out per week, but that’s certainly the lesser of two evils.