Microsoft is apparently trying to make Edge the best browser for businesses.
During the Microsoft Build event on Tuesday, the Windows maker announced a number of AI-tinged improvements to its Edge browser. The big one is the addition of Microsoft 365 Copilot (opens in a new tab)(an enterprise-focused AI system) to Edge. The service is natively integrated into the browser.
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What exactly does that mean? Well, the goal of Microsoft Copilot is to use AI to power your productivity and workflow. It plugs into all of your Microsoft data (including your calendar, chats, emails, and documents) and uses that data to help you use conversation requests. For example, ask it to “tell my team how we updated our product strategy today” and it will generate a response based on relevant information from that day.
This has existed outside of Edge so far, but integrating it directly into the browser should make it more accessible. Microsoft also announced support for Copilot plugins, which allow developers to enable AI chat services for their products. It also uses the same standard as ChatGPT, so they should be interoperable.
These aren’t revolutionary, world-changing features or anything, but for people who manage teams of employees who happen to use Edge, they can be quite useful.