Microsoft has launched new features for its AI "Copilot Mode" in Edge, following a raft of recent new offerings from competing browsers.
First announced in July, Copilot Mode brings a chat interface to each Edge tab where users can ask questions, search, or enter URLs directly. The mode can also analyze content across all open tabs simultaneously, meaning users are able to compare products or summarize information from multiple windows.
Two new preview features are rolling out to U.S. users. Copilot Actions adds agentic capabilities, letting the AI handle tasks like unsubscribing from emails or making reservations. Actions also includes voice capabilities, allowing users to speak to their browser to open web pages or ask Copilot to find specific topics within articles.
Meanwhile, the Journeys feature organizes browsing history by topic and suggests next steps, making it easier to resume research sessions. It can also group past browsing sessions thematically. So, for example, if a user was researching TVs the previous day, Journeys can organize that session and help pick up where they left off with suggestions for related content.
Copilot Mode can access the user's browsing history to provide better responses, but only with user permission. This is supposed to give the AI more context when answering questions or making suggestions based on past activity.
Companies are in a race to lace AI through every product, and browsers have not been spared, with similar announcements for Perplexity's Comet, Opera's Neon, Dia browser, and most recently, OpenAI's ChatGPT Atlas.
Users can activate Copilot Mode by downloading the latest version of Edge and toggling it on through Microsoft's website. U.S.-based users can also opt into the Actions and Journeys preview.
