Beware Bing Chat with GPT-4 for free on Chrome (BGAUpsell.exe, BCILauncher.exe)

Beware of the recent Microsoft’s Bing search engine promotion which creates prompts to persuade (trick) Google Chrome users to switch their default search engine to Bing. BGAUpsell creates two more files in C:\Windows\Temp\MUBSTemp.

C:\Windows\Temp\MUBSTemp
C:\Windows\Temp\MUBSTemp\BCILauncher.EXE
C:\Windows\Temp\MUBSTemp\BingChatInstaller.EXE
 

In a statement to Windows Latest, Microsoft confirmed the company is testing a “one-time” notification that encourages people to use Bing as a default search in Google Chrome. The pop-up also advertises Bing’s free access to ChatGPT-4, where users can get “hundreds of daily chat turns with Bing AI”...“This is a one-time notification giving people the choice to set Bing as their default search engine on Chrome. For those who choose to set Bing as their default search engine on Chrome, when signed in with their MSA they also get more chat turns in Copilot and chat history,” Microsoft told Windows Latest over email...Windows pop-up ad changes Chrome’s search settings, and switches to Bing from Google if you click “Yes”.

 Tired of Bing AI popups? Remove the pesky BGAUpsell to get rid of them

I was unaware until WinPatrol (Scotty) warned me today that a new startup program (BCILauncher.EXE) was added. The warning allowed me to ignore the aggravation of having to deal with this.

Yes WinPatrol is an old outdated program but it still has some useful features.

Beware of the recent Microsoft’s Bing search engine promotion which creates prompts to persuade (trick) Google Chrome users to switch their default search engine to Bing. BGAUpsell creates two more files in C:\Windows\Temp\MUBSTemp.

C:\Windows\Temp\MUBSTemp
C:\Windows\Temp\MUBSTemp\BCILauncher.EXE
C:\Windows\Temp\MUBSTemp\BingChatInstaller.EXE
 

In a statement to Windows Latest, Microsoft confirmed the company is testing a “one-time” notification that encourages people to use Bing as a default search in Google Chrome. The pop-up also advertises Bing’s free access to ChatGPT-4, where users can get “hundreds of daily chat turns with Bing AI”...“This is a one-time notification giving people the choice to set Bing as their default search engine on Chrome. For those who choose to set Bing as their default search engine on Chrome, when signed in with their MSA they also get more chat turns in Copilot and chat history,” Microsoft told Windows Latest over email...Windows pop-up ad changes Chrome’s search settings, and switches to Bing from Google if you click “Yes”.

 Tired of Bing AI popups? Remove the pesky BGAUpsell to get rid of them

 

I was unaware until WinPatrol (Scotty) warned me today that a new startup program (BCILauncher.EXE) was added. The warning allowed me to ignore the aggravation of having to deal with this.

 

Yes WinPatrol is an old outdated program but it still has some useful features.

Thanks for the info! Strangely, upon opening this message, I got a notification offering CoPilot in Bing even though I use Firefox. I was going to use the link you provided from Windows Report but either it turned itself off or maybe Microsoft, in their infinite [insert your choice of words], has renamed BGAUpsell.

Edited by RevGAM, 03 April 2024 - 07:05 PM.

Old news. Microsoft has been upselling bing since day one. Nothing new and besides if you wish to get all of the full features that copilot offers, you have to pay for it. Otherwise just choose who you wish as a search engine. 99.99% of computer users out there do not even care what search engine or browser they have on their computer, they will just use it and then never wonder how they get infected by going out and buying a new computer.

Edited by greg18, 03 April 2024 - 04:29 PM.

@greg18 I guess you missed the point of this post.  Too help others.

Not everyone reads the same news as you.

Thank you @quietman7

You're welcome.
 
This was just another sneaky attempt to push folks towards using Bing without informing them. It is the "sneakiness" intended to avoid notice that bothers me and apparently a lot of others who were caught unaware.
 
https://www.reddit.com/r/computerviruses/comments/149x25h/bgaupsell_what_is_this_bing_popup/
https://www.reddit.com/r/spyshelter/comments/1ay2mf3/spyshelter_reporting_bcilauncherexe_what_is_it/
https://www.reddit.com/r/computerviruses/comments/18g8w8a/new_version_of_bgaupsell_adware/
https://www.reddit.com/r/antivirus/comments/1beg1bi/is_this_microsoft_bing_popup_malware/

TY quietman7

@0lds0d & RevGAM

You're welcome too.

It is the "sneakiness" intended to avoid notice that bothers me and apparently a lot of others who were caught unaware.

Good word choice.

@greg18 I guess you missed the point of this post.  Too help others.

 

Not everyone reads the same news as you.

 

Thank you @quietman7

Guessing that you missed the huge hint of sarcasm in my post.

Thank you, quietman7!

For some reason, I only have the BCILauncher.EXE file in the C:\Windows\Temp\MUBSTemp folder on my Microsoft Windows 10 Professional 64-bit Build 19045.4239 (22H2) desktop-only computer.

I have the Microsoft Copilot in Microsoft Edge Chromium but I do NOT use it, and I do NOT have it on my taskbar. But rather than taking ownership of the C:\Windows\Temp folder, I did something easier.

I started an administrator command prompt, navigated to the C:\Windows\Temp\MUBSTemp folder, and renamed the BCILauncher.EXE file to BCILauncher.EXEdisable as you recommended HERE.

However, whenever I automatically get the Microsoft Bing Chat Copilot downloaded and installed on my taskbar, I will also rename the BingChatInstaller.EXE file to BingChatInstaller.EXEdisable.

Just for the record, my favorite search engine and home page is Startpage in all my Mozilla Firefox and Chromium-based browsers, so I have NOT experienced any popups or anything similar.

From a security standpoint against malware infection, I think taking ownership of the C:\Windows\Temp folder which is system-protected by default is risky, and in this particular case, even unnecessary.

I am not seeing the Bing Chat installer in any of my Windows installs. I have zero issues with it since things like that installer can be blocked with policies and can be easily removed. It takes interaction with the end user to even get it to install. Copilot in Windows is completely different from Copilot installed through a browser, along with the fact that Bing Chat has been phased out.

Allowed me to quickly identify what it was from searching. Thank you very much.