Microsoft is shutting off access to its Bing Search APIs, marking a major shift in its search data strategy that will cut off thousands of developers, startups, and rival search engines from one of the most widely used search indexes on the web.

The tech giant quietly announced that Bing Search APIs will be officially retired on August 11, 2025, after which all existing instances will be “decommissioned completely” and no new customers will be allowed to sign up.

The move is significant and has sent ripples through the developer ecosystem, as it effectively eliminates raw access to Bing’s search data — a lifeline for several third-party platforms that depend on Bing results to power their services.

While Microsoft has offered a replacement through its AI-integrated service “Grounding with Bing Search” as part of Azure AI Agents, this alternative is far from a one-for-one substitute. It provides search summaries rather than raw, indexable data and is tailored more for chatbot applications than traditional search use cases. Developers do not get access to the full set of search results or metadata — a change that limits flexibility and breaks compatibility for many existing apps.

Smaller Developers Left Behind

Notably, big customers like DuckDuckGo, which has long relied on Bing to power its privacy-first search engine, will retain access to the Bing APIs after the cutoff date, according to a report by Wired. But smaller developers and startups will be locked out, prompting fears of increased consolidation in the web search market and a loss of viable alternatives to Big Tech’s stranglehold.

This marks a culmination of Microsoft’s trend over recent years, during which it quietly raised prices for Bing Search API access, making it increasingly unaffordable for smaller users. Now, with this full deprecation, even those who managed to keep up with rising costs are being forced to find alternatives or shut down.

AI at the Center of Microsoft’s Strategy

Microsoft’s move comes at a time when the company is rapidly pivoting towards AI-centric business models, particularly since the explosive rise of generative AI. Grounding with Bing Search is part of Microsoft’s Azure OpenAI stack, which powers chatbot experiences by fetching and summarizing content from the web. But the pivot comes with trade-offs. Many developers have voiced concerns that Microsoft is replacing a flexible, open search API with a closed system geared more towards enhancing its AI agents than supporting broader use cases.

The replacement service offers structured, filtered outputs optimized for AI prompts rather than full access to search results. This limits transparency and granularity, pushing developers to either adapt their products entirely or abandon Bing’s ecosystem.

Timing and Regulatory Overtones

The timing of the announcement, just days before Microsoft’s Build developer conference, and just a week after the U.S. Department of Justice’s latest action in its antitrust case against Google, is notable. The DOJ is seeking to break up Google’s dominance in the ad tech business, a campaign that has reignited scrutiny of anti-competitive behavior across the tech sector, including concerns over control of access to web search data.

Microsoft, for years the underdog in the search race, now finds itself in a position where it too is cutting off access to key internet infrastructure. This comes at a time when open and diversified access to search data is increasingly seen as critical to breaking monopolistic control over information on the internet.

With Bing Search APIs gone, the field is narrowing. The decision could undermine emerging competitors in the AI and search space that rely on multiple data sources to build smarter, faster tools — companies like Perplexity, Cohere, or Mistral, which are already experimenting with new ways to retrieve and synthesize web information.

One of the few options still standing is Brave Search, an independent engine developed by the privacy-focused browser company Brave. Brave Search not only operates its own independent index, but also offers an API that’s being adopted by AI startups eager to move away from Microsoft and Google dependencies.

The Brave Search API is being praised for being developer-friendly and affordable, with a free tier offering up to 2,000 queries per month, and flexible paid plans for larger needs. This makes it particularly appealing for the smaller developers being cast aside by Microsoft’s latest shift.

This transition marks a turning point in how web data will be accessed in the age of AI. While Microsoft touts this as a move toward a smarter, AI-integrated future, critics say it’s also a blow to transparency, innovation, and competition in the digital economy.

Developers who relied on Bing for everything from academic research tools to search overlays and browser integrations will now be forced to rethink their architecture or shut their services down. And for users, this could mean fewer search tools, less innovation, and increased centralization of how information is discovered and delivered.

In an era where many employers still treat artificial intelligence (AI) as a secondary skill, Fiverr is taking a radically different stance: no AI, no job.

The CEO of the freelance services giant, Micha Kaufman, told Business Insider that he wouldn’t hire anyone who hasn’t already adopted AI in their work.

“Even candidates who say they’re open to trying AI, but haven’t actually used it, would be a red flag,” he said. For Kaufman, it’s not about willingness; it’s about action.

“You can’t wait to be taught something,” he explained. “If you don’t ensure that you sharpen your knives, you’re going to be left behind. It’s that simple.”

Kaufman’s bold declaration wasn’t just made in a media interview—it was delivered directly to Fiverr’s 775 employees in a company-wide memo last month. That message, which he later posted publicly on X, wasn’t sugar-coated. It opened with a clear warning: “AI is coming for your jobs. Heck, it’s coming for my job too. This is a wake-up call.”

He stressed that no role is immune. “It does not matter if you are a programmer, designer, product manager, data scientist, lawyer, customer support rep, salesperson, or a finance person—AI is coming for you,” the memo read.

In his interview with Business Insider, Kaufman explained that the memo was not about instilling fear, but about urging realism.

“If you don’t make that move, you’re going to be out of work,” he said. “Not only in our company but also across the industry. There’s not going to be a demand for people who are working like it was five years ago.”

Freelancers Ahead of the Curve

Fiverr’s core user base—freelancers—are often better positioned to embrace rapid change, Kaufman observed. With less bureaucracy and more incentive to stay ahead, freelancers frequently spend “days and days” experimenting with emerging tools, while many salaried workers remain boxed into traditional routines.

He pointed to Fiverr’s internal data for evidence of this shift. The company’s May Business Trends Index, which tracks millions of user searches globally, revealed a staggering 18,347% spike in demand for AI agent services over the last six months. Searches for AI video creators jumped by 1,739%. New roles such as “vibe coders,” “agent trainers,” and “ComfyUI consultants” have quickly emerged among the platform’s top earners.

Don’t Fear AI—Outpace It

Kaufman is not alone in sounding the alarm about the accelerating role of AI in the workplace. Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski said earlier this year that AI could do “all our jobs, my own included.” Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke went further, requiring teams to prove that AI cannot do a task before hiring additional staff. At Duolingo, contract workers have already been replaced by AI. Salesforce, meanwhile, is using AI-powered internal coaches to help employees reskill rather than lay them off.

But where many executives frame these changes as tough but necessary adjustments, Kaufman is pushing for a more fundamental shift in mindset. He insists that AI literacy must now be considered a core competency.

“The people who are never going to be displaced or replaced are the people who are going to find ways to replace 100% of what they do now with technology,” he said. Far from threatening their jobs, this kind of thinking earns his respect. “Because that just frees up their time to focus on things that technology cannot provide right now.”

He emphasized that it’s not about ticking boxes or listing tools on résumés. “It’s curiosity, adaptability, and a willingness to experiment” that separates future-proof talent from those at risk of being replaced.

Human Judgment Still Matters—But Not Without AI

Although he is unapologetically pro-AI, Kaufman doesn’t believe the machines are ready to fully replace human nuance yet. He said the goal isn’t just to automate tasks, but to amplify what humans can do.

“These new tools, these new models, agents, are able to provide us with a lot of work that was just taking time,” he said. But the “special human touch” remains essential. “I want my people to focus on these more complex, nuanced human tasks rather than continuing to work like it’s 2024. If you’re still doing that, you’re doing something wrong.”

Kaufman’s remarks stand in sharp contrast to broader corporate hiring patterns, where many companies still regard AI as a “nice-to-have” skill. His no-compromise approach marks a cultural shift that could soon draw a line between AI-native organizations and those still playing catch-up.

His insistence on hiring only those who already use AI also challenges traditional views about onboarding and training. While many HR departments still assume workers can be brought up to speed after they’re hired, Kaufman sees that as too slow and a sign of complacency.

“If you’re not already experimenting, you’re behind,” he said.

AI Won’t Replace You. But Someone Who Uses It Will.

Perhaps the most provocative line from Kaufman’s interview is this: “There’s less of a risk of technology displacing people. But I think there’s more risk of people who are very versed in technology displacing people who are not.”

In a world increasingly dominated by large language models, autonomous agents, and generative tools, the threat isn’t just automation—it’s adaptation. Those who embrace AI aren’t waiting to be saved; they’re building the future themselves.