Microsoft launches Copilot Mode in Edge with mixed AI agent results

Microsoft has officially launched Copilot Mode in Edge, transforming its AI assistant into a web portal that opens a chat window with each new tab for questions, searches, or URL navigation. The feature represents Microsoft’s entry into the competitive AI browser market, though early testing reveals significant reliability issues with its autonomous capabilities.

What you should know: Copilot Mode integrates AI responses, search results, and web navigation into a single interface while drawing information from all open tabs.

• Users can ask Copilot to summarize information across multiple windows or compare products between different tabs.
• The feature was previously available as an experimental option but is now accessible to all Edge users.
• Microsoft has also introduced Copilot Actions and Journeys as limited preview features for US-based users.

The big picture: AI browsers are gaining traction, but autonomous agent features remain unreliable across the industry.

• Copilot displays warnings that the tool is “intended for research and evaluation purposes” and “can make mistakes.”
• During testing, the AI assistant claimed to delete an email but failed to do so, and falsely reported sending a composed Gmail message.
• However, Copilot did successfully unsubscribe from a mailing list, showing mixed results in email management tasks.

Key details: The agentic Copilot Actions feature promises to handle tasks like email management and restaurant reservations autonomously.

• When attempting to book a Hard Rock Cafe reservation in New York City for November 26th, Copilot incorrectly selected October 26th instead—missing the target date by a full month.
• The assistant can access browsing history to provide better responses, but only with explicit user permission.
• Journeys, another preview feature, uses AI to organize browsing history into topics and suggests related searches.

How it works: Users can enable Copilot Mode by downloading Edge and toggling the feature on Microsoft’s website.

• US-based users can access additional preview features including Copilot Actions and Copilot Journeys by scrolling down on the activation page.
• The chat interface appears with each new tab, allowing seamless transitions between AI assistance and traditional browsing.