Microsoft Corp. is taking a major step forward with its AI assistant, Copilot, by more deeply integrating it into the Edge browser. The company hopes the enhanced experience will make online navigation and information gathering more intuitive for users.
The newly announced Copilot Mode in Microsoft Edge, revealed Monday, is being launched as an experimental feature. When enabled, it merges AI assistance and web search into a single, unified text box that appears when users open a new browser tab.
The updated Copilot can now read content across open browser tabs—allowing it to, for example, help users compare hotel room options or quickly revisit prior sessions. It can extract key information from websites, skipping past ads and filler to highlight core details—such as surfacing ingredients and instructions from a recipe page. It also supports spoken commands, making the browsing experience even more seamless.
This rollout reflects a broader industry trend of AI tools reshaping how users interact with the internet. As chatbots increasingly replace traditional search engines, some experts believe AI assistants could ultimately displace browsers altogether as the primary tool for navigating the web.
Alphabet Inc.’s Google is also pushing in this direction, embedding its Gemini assistant into Chrome and launching an “AI Mode” for search earlier this year.
“We’re witnessing a turning point in how we interact with the web,” said Sean Lyndersay, vice president leading Edge product development at Microsoft, in a blog post.
Previously, Edge users could access a limited version of Copilot via the swirl logo at the top of the browser. The new Copilot Mode will be opt-in and can be turned off in browser settings, Microsoft said.
In Microsoft’s blog post, it says Copilot Appearance “infuses your voice chats with dynamic visuals” to make conversation more interactive than ever. To start using this new feature, you’ll need to be part of the test group. If you have access, you can enter Voice Mode by going to copilot.microsoft.com and clicking the microphone icon. From there, go to open the Voice settings menu (the gear icon) and toggle on Copilot Appearance. Then, the new avatar will appear.
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