Copilot mode in Edge brings more powerful artificial intelligence to Microsoft’s web browser and is now available in limited preview in the US, the company announced in a blog post on Thursday.
Newer versions of Edge already had many of the same features as competing AI browsers, such as Perplexity’s Comet, OpenAI’s ChatGPT Atlas, and Google’s Gemini in Chrome. This includes having an AI chat on the web page you’re viewing, scanning content across multiple tabs, or searching the web.
Users who upgrade to the latest version of Edg can participate in a limited preview and enable the transition to Copilot. According to Microsoft, Copilot can be disabled at any time.
Co-pilot mode in Edge includes Actions and Trips, two features announced earlier this year. Actions, as the name suggests, give the Edge Agent capabilities: it can do things on your behalf. For example, Voice Actions allow users to talk to their browser and have it open a web page or ask Copilot to find a point in the article that covers a specific topic.
Journeys remembers a user’s browsing history and can help them pick up where they left off and offer suggestions on where to go next. Routes allow users to view their previous browsing sessions and group them accordingly. For example, if you’re looking for a new TV to buy the day before, Journeys can host the previous search session and help users buy it.
Microsoft did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The launch of Copilot mode in Edge comes as the browser wars heat up thanks to the rise of generative artificial intelligence. Earlier this week, OpenAI announced its ChatGPT Atlas browser, which integrates agent systems so that an AI can analyze data or perform tasks on the user’s behalf. Perplexity launched Comet earlier this year, as Google did with Gemini in Chrome.
Currently, the browser market is dominated by Google and Chrome has a market share of 71%. General statistics. After Apple’s Safari, Microsoft’s Edge comes in third with 4.67%. This is a huge setback for Microsoft, as the Internet Explorer browser once dominated the market landscape. with a global market share of 95%.. It is true that Internet Explorer was the default version of Windows and that Microsoft was eventually sued by the US Department of Justice for anti-competitive behavior. Ironically, this paved the way for Chrome’s entry into this space.
Microsoft said that user data remains secure and that only data intended to “enhance your experience” is collected. Browsing history cannot be accessed without user consent via the Pages option in Settings.