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In March 2023, reports described a hidden Bing Chat behavior that could make the chatbot respond as selected celebrities and fictional characters. It was not announced as an official Microsoft feature, access was inconsistent, and the available reporting does not establish that it still exists in Bing or Copilot.
What was “Celebrity mode”?
BleepingComputer reported on March 4, 2023, that a reader had found a non-default Bing Chat mode informally called “Celebrity mode.” According to the report, asking Bing Chat about the mode could cause it to describe and enable it. Users were then reportedly able to enter hashtag-style prompts such as #celebrity [name] or #[name].
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Bing’s generated explanation, quoted by BleepingComputer, said: “Bing chat celebrity mode is a feature that allows you to chat with a virtual version of a famous person, such as an actor, singer, or athlete.” It added that users could ask about a person’s life, “caree,” hobbies and opinions, with replies intended to match that person’s personality and style. That was chatbot-generated text reported by the outlet, not an official Microsoft product description.
Which personalities were reported?
The March 4 report gave examples including Elon Musk, Tom Cruise, Taylor Swift, Kevin Hart, Dwayne Johnson, Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey, Tom Hanks and Barack Obama. It also listed fictional characters such as Harry Potter, Batman, Elsa, Yoda, Gandalf, Darth Vader, Katniss Everdeen, Sherlock Holmes and Gollum.
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Those names describe examples from a dated report, not a confirmed or current roster. The reports do not show that every user could select every listed persona, or that Microsoft maintained a public catalogue.
Why the report raised safety questions
BleepingComputer said ordinary Bing Chat conversations usually resisted requests to imitate politicians or controversial figures, but that particular prompts could bypass the restriction. The article included examples involving Donald Trump and Joe Biden. This pointed to inconsistent safeguards, not to Microsoft endorsing political impersonation or formally launching the mode.
The outlet said it contacted Microsoft for comment but had not received an immediate response when the story was published. Consequently, the reporting documents observed behavior rather than an officially confirmed product capability.
Could everyone turn it on?
Apparently not. In a March 6, 2023 follow-up, Futurism reported that a direct request to enable Celebrity mode initially failed, with Bing denying that the feature existed. After the publication asked Bing about the mode, it was able to activate it. That account provides additional evidence that the behavior occurred, while also showing that access was unreliable and prompt-dependent.
| Question | What the 2023 reports establish |
|---|---|
| Was the behavior observed? | Yes. BleepingComputer and Futurism described successful interactions. |
| Was it an official Microsoft launch? | Not established. The reports describe hidden behavior and no immediate Microsoft confirmation. |
| Did every user have access? | No. Futurism described an initial failure followed by success after additional prompting. |
| Is it available now? | Unverified by the sources discussed here. |
Does Bing or Copilot still have Celebrity mode?
There is no reliable basis in these reports for treating Celebrity mode as a current Bing or Microsoft Copilot feature. Bing Chat was subsequently folded into Microsoft’s Copilot branding, but the historical reports do not demonstrate that the hidden behavior survived that transition. Do not assume the old hashtag prompts will work today.
Microsoft’s current impersonation rules
Microsoft’s current Copilot terms prohibit using Copilot to create or share disinformation or content intended to “impersonate, defraud, or deceive others.” They also prohibit creating or editing another person’s image, voice or video without permission, and prohibit infringing legal rights such as publicity and intellectual-property rights.
Those terms provide current policy context; they do not confirm whether the 2023 text-only behavior remains available, nor do they settle every use of fictional role-play. Using an AI response to trick people into believing a real person made a statement would conflict with the stated prohibition on deceptive impersonation.
Quick Recap
What readers should take away
- The “secret feature” was a reported Bing Chat behavior observed in early March 2023.
- It reportedly produced celebrity and fictional-character role-play through hidden, hashtag-style prompts.
- Access and safeguards were inconsistent, including around political figures.
- Microsoft had not publicly confirmed the feature in the original coverage.
- Current availability remains unverified, and present Copilot terms prohibit deceptive impersonation and unauthorized synthetic media involving other people.
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