Microsoft updates its Edge web browser with built-in A.I. capabilities

At a Microsoft press event today where the company demonstrated its new A.I.-powered search capabilities in Bing, the company also announced a new version of its Edge web browser that includes A.I. technologies built-in. With the new browser, web users would be able to do things like summarize search results with A.I.’s help and converse with A.I. chatbots to get their questions answered, among other things.

“It’s sleeker, it’s lighter,” said Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft Corporate VP, when demonstrating the new version of the browser, which now sports a few aesthetic changes, as well, like rounded corners.

Similar to the updates coming to Bing, an A.I. chatbot is available in a sidebar in Edge and includes two functionalities: chat and compose.

These can be combined to help users do things like summarize lengthy web content, run comparisons, or even create content, in some cases.

Mehdi showed off how Edge’s A.I. powers could be put to use in a handful of demos during the event. In one, he visited the Gap website to look up the quarterly reports and earnings. He clicks a link to view the Q3 report and it pulls up a 15-page PDF.

“It’s pretty long. I won’t have time to read all that. What I’d love is a summary of the key points,” he says.

Then, with a click, he opens up a chatbot from the top of the browser and asks it to give him the most important takeaways from the page. The A.I. returns a summary promptly, representing a “massive time savings,” notes Mehdi.

What’s more impressive, however, is what the A.I. does next. He has it compare the Gap Q3 financials to Lululemon’s Q3 and make a table with its findings.

In another demo, he showed off how the A.I. could be used alongside the developer resources on the Stack Overflow website. He began to research tips on how to parse a JSON file on the site and finds a code snippet in the results that he wants to use. But the code is in Python and he wants it in Rust.

To get help with this from the A.I., he highlights the text which then brings it up in Edge’s new sidebar, then instructs the A.I. to write the code in Rust. It does.

In a final example, Mehdi demonstrates using the A.I. in the sidebar to write a LinkedIn post. (And you thought the corporate posts sounded like bots now!). In this case, he gives the A.I. a few prompts to get it started. You can also ask to refine the post by tone, format or length, and Edge understands and updates the draft accordingly.

The news about Edge was announced alongside the anticipated arrival of OpenAI’s technologies in the Bing search engine. At the event, Microsoft announced the integration of OpenAI’s GPT-4 model into its search engine which provides a ChatGPT-like experience.

Alongside these A.I. updates to Bing, the updated Edge browser will be available to preview today.

“AI will fundamentally change every software category, starting with the largest category of all – search,” said Satya Nadella, Microsoft Chairman and CEO, in an announcement. “Today, we’re launching Bing and Edge powered by AI copilot and chat, to help people get more from search and the web.”