Software giant Microsoft launched new capabilities for its AI-powered web browsing experience, Copilot Mode in Edge. The tool is designed to provide a dynamic, intelligent companion that anticipates, assists and accelerates someone’s online experience. It reduces time spent on tasks like clicking links, sorting tabs and scrolling to find information.
Copilot Mode initially launched in July featuring a new tab page where a user can start a chat, search or navigate the web; reasoning capabilities across multiple open tabs; and a dynamic pane to retain context. Its newest offerings include Actions, a feature that allows Copilot to perform simple tasks like opening a webpage or complex ones like bulk unsubscribing from email subscriptions based on natural, conversational voice prompts. Journeys is another new Copilot Mode offering that groups past browsing projects into specific topics. Journeys is currently only available as a free limited preview for U.S. users.
Alongside the browser experience, Microsoft is also furthering its standalone Copilot tool. With its fall release, Copilot brings new capabilities, including a collaborative brainstorming experience through Groups, AI-generated ideas with Imagine and an AI companion character named Mico that visually reacts to users’ interactions. Other new features include the Memory & Personalization and Copilot for health offerings.
“Instead of AI that replaces human judgment, we’re building AI that empowers your own — helping you make better decisions, spark your creativity, deepen your connections,” Mustafa Suleyman, Microsoft CEO, wrote in a company blog. “It’s in this context that we talk about an AI companion. It helps you think, plan and dream, but always on your terms. It adapts to your needs and context, remembers what matters to you and learns from your feedback. And it looks out for your interests.”
This latest update launched in the same week competitor OpenAI released ChatGPT Atlas, its own AI web browser. Microsoft’s Copilot Mode in Edge is expected to help users resume browsing based on past sessions, easily complete multi-step actions and provide insights based on browsing history. The platform, like Atlas, gives users the option to disable the function that saves browsing history.
Copilot Mode in Edge is now available in all Copilot markets on the Edge browser for Windows and Mac. It will be released on the Edge mobile app soon.
