If you rely on AI to assist you and want it inside your web browser, Microsoft’s Edge might have a reason for you to try it again on Windows and Mac.
AI is changing things, both for good and for bad, and browsers appear in the area’s focus next.
While we’ve know Google is integrating its Gemini AI more deeply into search and Chrome, and have heard rumours and rumblings of an official ChatGPT browser on the way, Microsoft appears keen to tackle the area with an experiment for those who dig ChatGPT, but like it under the guise of Copilot.
Specifically, Microsoft has launched an experimental “Copilot Mode” inside of its Edge browser, allowing you to not only talk to the Copilot system to search the web, but also allow its ChatGPT-powered AI to see the tabs you have open and understand what’s inside of them to compare and contrast.
Microsoft calls the move “a new way to browse the web”, with the concept essentially giving a web-connected AI permission to look at what you’re doing and assist in search, effectively turning a series of tabs into an automatic analysis.
That could be handy if you’re looking up flights or comparing hotels, using a set of tabs as a form of research. It could be less handy, however, if you have hundreds of tabs open because that’s how you use a web browser, and haven’t really remembered to go through them gradually and close them down.
If anything, Microsoft’s preview of an AI-based browser assistant does appear to be focused on browsing the web with purpose, and the company notes that you’ll soon be able to give the AI permission to access your history and other credentials to work on your behalf. The area known as “agentic search” — or essentially search working as a form of agent for you — is coming to more AI platforms, and is seen by many as one of the next steps forward.
However, it’s worth noting that this entire thing is an experiment, and one that could cost money very soon.
Microsoft even notes that while its Edge Copilot Mode is available for Windows and Mac in an experimental opt-in mode, it is “free for a limited time”, suggesting AI browsing could soon be something you end up paying for.
What Microsoft hasn’t said is whether any of its Copilot Mode functionality will be able to use local AI features built into the chips found in many computers, with AI PCs pretty much a norm in the past two years.
Our guess is this initial version is online only, especially given the hint of a paid version in the near future. The cost of running AI, particularly the power consumption, and the amount of data sent to an AI system is often what drives the cost higher. The more information you send it and expect back, the more power it uses, and the more it costs. We doubt that will change here.
That could be why Edge users may expect to pay for this version of AI in the future, which could end up being a part of Microsoft’s current Copilot plans later on down the track.
For now, folks keen to see just what an AI browsing experience looks like can try it for free, just know that a price change is coming in the not too distant future.
