- Copilot Mode turns Edge into a browser that actually thinks. It can summarize pages, compare prices across tabs, track deals, and respond to voice or typed prompts. You get research, shopping, and productivity help all in one place without opening a dozen tabs.
- This is Microsoft’s boldest move yet to reclaim browser market share. Google has been slow to roll out meaningful AI features in Chrome, and Comet costs more than most people's monthly coffee budget. Edge with Copilot offers powerful AI tools baked right in and, for now, it’s free.
- If AI can browse, summarize, and shop for you, what’s left for you to do? As browsers shift from passive tools to active assistants, the web starts to feel less like a place and more like a machine-to-machine transaction. That has big implications for privacy, publishing, and what the internet becomes next.
Will AI kill the web, or, in a twist of fate, actually enhance it?
Today Microsoft adds to the eternal debate over the internet’s future by further blending it with AI.
In a blog post, Introducing Copilot Mode: A new way to browse the web, the company said it had launched “Copilot mode.”
Noted as experimental, the new feature will, in a sense, enable Microsoft’s AI agent, Copilot, to become your surfing buddy.
Some of the key features of this new AI-fueled Edge browser:
- Copilot will anticipate your next browser move
- A new input box that combines chat, search and web navigation
- Turns your browser “into a tool” so you can compare and decide about various options (e.g. comparison shopping)
- Supports voice navigation
- Can surface relevant insights
To try the new Copilot mode you need to have Microsoft Edge already installed. Then, head to the Copilot mode web site and click the button to turn it on.
Hands-On: Microsoft Edge with Copilot Mode
As a die hard Google Chrome user, it’s hard to switch, even for a few minutes, as my entire life seems to take place in Gmail, Google, and a small army of AI tabs (mostly Claude, Gemini and ChatGPT). Plus a few more tabs running SLMs on an oomla Docker container on my UNRAID box. Nevertheless, I feel like Microsoft has done a good job with Edge (it’s a lifetime removed from Internet Explorer) and wanted to give the new feature a spin.
First I clicked through to enable the feature as explained in the Microsoft Post. You’ll know you’re in Copilot Mode when you see the icon on the left side of the address bar along the toolbar.
Of course, I then visited one of my AI articles on Stark Insider and Copilot auto-prompted:
Give me a few interesting facts related to the info on this page:
That alone can be handy for doing quick research, possibly expanding insights into a topic you’re interested in without having to open a separate tab. In my example above you can see some of Copilot’s responses, neatly pinned to the right of the browser window. I found the layout easy and convenient. Scrolling my article while also gleaning insights from Copilot was pretty handy… and quite narcissistic for a Monday.
Surfing some espresso machines on Amazon resulted in the Microsoft Shopping pop-up which had options to see price trends and to even track the price of the item.
I then pulled up the Nespresso Breville Creatista Plus in two tabs, one for Amazon and another for Best Buy. I asked Copilot to compare across the tabs:
Pretty handy. And, again, I can do all this within a browser, not having to use a separate tab to Google something (hence, the imminent threat to search).
I asked for Pros/Cons of buying from either site and was given a comprehensive summary that had some good stuff (free one-day shipping) and bad stuff (customer service variable depending on fulfilment partner) for Amazon. Same too for Best Buy. Ultimately, for speed Copilot suggested I buy from Amazon for speed and Best Buy for warranty.
The AI Browsing Competition
Adding AI to a browser isn’t new. Google, for instance, saw this coming and has already integrated Gemini into Chrome and also into its baseline google.com web page. It’s not yet fully baked and sits in a side panel, but it’s a first step for what will become another chapter in the Browser Wars.
The landscape is getting crowded fast:
Perplexity’s Comet (July 2025): At launch, Comet will be available first to subscribers of Perplexity’s $200-per-month Max plan. It’s pricey, but users rave about its ability to understand context across tabs and automate complex tasks. After playing around with Comet, I think that’s an understatement, as my first few hours with the software felt like I was learning how to use the internet for the very first time again.
The Browser Company’s Dia (Early 2025): After essentially abandoning Arc, they’re betting everything on AI. Dia’s headline feature is Perplexity’s AI search engine, which is pre-installed and set as the default. CEO Josh Miller is convinced “AI is not going to exist as an app, it’s not going to exist as a button, AI is going to be an entirely new environment built on top of a web browser.” I haven’t tried this one yet. But it’s on my Trello board of ever-increasing AI-related tasks that seems to be growing at a unsustainable pace.
Google’s Gemini in Chrome: Already rolling out to AI Pro and Ultra subscribers. The idea behind the feature is to give users easy access to Gemini right in Chrome, since Google is likely looking for ways to get people to use Gemini instead of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. It can summarize pages, answer questions about content, and will eventually work across multiple tabs.
OpenAI’s Mystery Browser: Still under wraps, but Reuters reports it’s “close to releasing.” Given their track record with ChatGPT, expectations are sky-high.
Even social platforms are jumping in. Facebook’s testing AI summaries in feeds. X has Grok baked in (for Premium subscribers). Everyone wants to be your AI copilot.
The competition is fierce because the stakes are enormous. Perplexity, which this week launched its own AI-enabled web browser, Comet, is leading the charge. Experts say Google’s relative slowness on AI has left an opening that could give AI startups a chance of grabbing market share.
Expect continued massive investment in this space. One player, in particular, has essentially owned this space for decades and that’s Google. With its stranglehold on search and popularity of Google Chrome, almost all roads led to the Google piggybank. Given there’s signs of a slight fracture and opportunity and expect the Venture funds to flood into the hands of those eager for some juicy disruption.
AI and the Future of Web Browsing
Despite my slightly sad example of consumerism, there is a serious trend here. AI and the Web are rapidly comingling. It’s as if we earned a video game power up and are now able to supercharge our browsing capabilities at increased speeds.
And it’s not really about just AI and browsing. It’s about AI and Everything.
From my time here in Silicon Valley since the late 90’s, this rise of AI everywhere feels even more profound and disruptive than other major disruptions like e-commerce, social media, mobile computing, or even cloud services. Those were evolutionary steps. This feels revolutionary. Hyperbole, I know, but this is truly a moment.
Think about it. We’ve gone from:
- Typing keywords into search boxes -> Having conversations with our browser
- Opening 47 tabs to research something -> AI synthesizing info across sources instantly
- Manually comparing products -> AI doing the legwork and presenting recommendations
- Copy-pasting between sites -> AI understanding context and automating tasks
The shift is fundamental. We’re moving from browsers as passive windows to the web to browsers as active participants in our digital lives.
But there’s a darker side to this utopia. Privacy concerns are real. “With Copilot Mode in Edge, your data is protected under Microsoft’s trusted privacy standards that are built to keep your information safe, secure, and never shared without your permission,” Lyndersay wrote. That’s reassuring, sort of. But remember, this is the same Microsoft that caught flak for their Recall feature on Copilot+ PCs before having to completely rework it due to privacy concerns.
And what about the web itself? If AI browsers can summarize everything, compare products, and complete tasks without us actually visiting websites, what happens to publishers? To e-commerce sites? To the entire ecosystem that depends on page views and engagement?
I’ve been grappling with this question a lot lately, especially after my adventures with AI crawlers and attribution (essential topic for me here on Stark Insider as I’m sure it is for others creating content). The web as we know it might be transforming into something else entirely. A training ground for AIs rather than a destination for humans. I keep hearing how machines will talk to other machines. Could humans become mere bystanders as machines take over?
Here’s the thing nobody’s talking about: cognitive load. After spending two weeks deep in the AI rabbit hole (as I wrote about in The Mind Melt), I can tell you firsthand that having an AI assistant constantly offering suggestions, summaries, and shortcuts is both exhilarating and exhausting. Two weeks with just AI, and a dozen Chrome Tabs while Loni was in Colorado almost burned me to the ground because things just move exponentially faster when you work with AI at your side.
That intense experience really opened my eyes.
Your brain starts operating differently. You begin thinking in prompts. Every task becomes an opportunity for optimization. Should I read this article or have AI summarize it? Should I write this email or have AI draft it?
The constant presence of these capabilities changes how you approach… everything. Tip: try asking ChatGPT or Claude to response as experts in a field (coding, research, writing, comedy, etc.) to really refine your prompt!
Microsoft knows this. That’s why Copilot Mode is opt-in. That’s why there are visual cues showing when it’s active. They’re trying to find the sweet spot between helpful and overwhelming.
Microsoft says future updates will let Copilot Mode take more advanced actions — book reservations, remember tasks and organize browsing history into topic-based “journeys.” Imagine your browser not just helping you find a restaurant but actually making the reservation, adding it to your calendar, and reminding you to leave on time based on traffic conditions. The machines could be controlling more of our lives. So long as we opt-in. Then again, maybe we won’t have a choice. Disruption has a way of just happening.
It sounds amazing. It also sounds like we’re outsourcing more and more of our cognitive functions to machines. Where’s the line?
Market Impact and What’s Next
The browser hasn’t been this sexy since people were installing Netscape Navigator from a CD-ROM. Back then, Microsoft crushed the competition with Internet Explorer, bundled it with Windows, and basically said, “You’re welcome.” (AOL?) Then Chrome arrived, mobile exploded, and IE became the digital equivalent of a fax machine.
Now Microsoft smells opportunity again.
Can Edge make a comeback? Hard to say. Chrome still rules the roost with about 65% global market share. But: Google’s been moving at the speed of molasses lately, especially when it comes to putting real AI tools into my beloved Chrome.
Meanwhile, Copilot Mode is the kind of swing-for-the-fences move that could actually move the needle. But here’s the catch: winning isn’t just about features.
It’s about trust. Are we ready to hand over our browsing history, purchase habits, and possibly our bank logins to a browser that can talk back?
It’s about cost. Perplexity Comet is $200/month, which is great if you’re running a hedge fund, less so if you’re just trying to compare which oat milk to buy. Microsoft’s play here could be bundling Copilot into something you already have (like Office 365). Suddenly, it’s free-ish.
It’s about execution. The AI has to work. Not most of the time. All of the time. One hallucinated hotel booking in Florida instead of Florence and people will be reluctant to trust its judgement.
And it’s about developers. Will they build for AI-first browsers? Or throw up anti-bot banners and force us to prove we’re human three times before we can read a cookie policy?
Bottom line: Microsoft’s got momentum. They’ve got Copilot in Word, Excel, Outlook, and now Edge. If they can keep the price down and the hallucinations in check (see: ChatGPT), they might finally have a browser people don’t just open accidentally.
Final Thoughts: Embracing Our AI-Powered Future
After a day with Copilot Mode, I’m both impressed and apprehensive. The ability to have my browser understand context and handle mundane tasks is genuinely useful. But we’re fundamentally changing how humans interact with information, and that’s disorienting.
Here’s what I’ve learned from running Stark Insider for 20 years: adapt or become irrelevant. When Google arrived, we learned SEO. Social media exploded, we pivoted. Mobile took over, we went responsive design. Now with AI reshaping everything, we’ll adapt again. Or die.
The key is staying human in the process. And somehow letting our voices still be heard… I’m actually writing this… actually typing words and sentences… and typing some more, proofing a little… and hopefully trying to use AI as a tool, not a crutch… especially when it comes to allowing these agents to run our WordPress server (have at it boys!).
As for Copilot Mode? It’s a solid first effort. Not as polished as Perplexity’s Comet, but accessible and integrated in ways that matter. If Microsoft nails the pricing, they might just give Chrome a run for its money. It’ll likely be a cold day in Hell for me to ever make the switch. But innovation and change and disruption teach you not to get too fixed in your ways.
Meantime it would seem the fabled browser wars are back. This time, powered by AI. The disruption we’re feeling is only going to accelerate, for better and worse.
RELATED POSTS ON STARK INSIDER:
Meta Moment: Copilot Summarizes This Article
For fun, I asked Copilot Mode to summarize this very article about itself. Here’s what it came up with, verbatim:
Summarize the main points on this page
Sure thing, Clinton. Here’s a summary of the main takeaways from your article on Microsoft Edge Copilot Mode:
🌐 What is Copilot Mode?
- A new AI-powered feature in Microsoft Edge that turns the browser into an active assistant.
- Combines chat, search, and web navigation in a single input box.
- Offers real-time summaries, comparison shopping, and contextual insights while browsing.
Supports voice navigation and can act across tabs (e.g., compare prices from Amazon vs. Best Buy).
🖥️ Hands-On Experience
- Copilot highlights insights while scrolling pages (e.g., pumpkin pie recipe converted to vegan).
- Demonstrates useful shopping tools like price tracking, trend analysis, and retailer comparison.
- Offers pros and cons from different sites—Amazon for speed, Best Buy for warranty.
🔍 Browser Wars and the AI Arms Race
- Microsoft isn’t alone: Google has Gemini, Perplexity launched Comet ($200/month), and Browser Company introduced Dia.
- AI browsers are evolving into full digital environments that automate tasks and synthesize cross-tab info.
⚠️ Challenges and Concerns
- ✨ Cognitive Overload: Constant AI interaction can be both empowering and exhausting.
- 🕵️ Privacy: Microsoft claims strong protection, but skepticism remains given past missteps.
- 📉 Web Impact: If AI summarizes everything, will users stop visiting actual websites? Implications for publishers are serious.
🚀 Looking Ahead
- Future Copilot Mode updates may include booking tasks, organizing browsing history, and planning “journeys.”
- Microsoft aims to bundle Copilot across its ecosystem (Word, Excel, Outlook) to boost appeal.
- The AI browser shift is seen as more revolutionary than prior tech disruptions like mobile or social media.
🎬 Final Thoughts
- While impressed with Copilot Mode’s utility, you’re cautious about its deeper impact on human cognition and creativity.
- The key, you argue, is to use AI as a helpful tool—not a cognitive crutch—and to stay human in the process.
If you’d like, I can also extract some SEO-friendly meta descriptions or brainstorm headlines based on this review. Want to riff on that next?