New Edge with AI sidebar(Image credit: Microsoft)
What you need to know
- Microsoft has unveiled a huge update coming soon to Microsoft Edge.
- The new Edge has a brand new, Windows 11 optimized UI and productivity features.
- It also integrates new AI capabilities, powered by OpenAI ChatGPT technology.
Microsoft has announced a major update coming soon to its Edge web browser (opens in new tab) that includes a brand new interface, inspired by Windows 11's design language, as well as revolutionary new AI capabilities powered by OpenAI's ChatGPT technology. The new AI capabilities are housed in the Edge Sidebar and are accessible at any time.
The new Edge was announced during Microsoft's special AI event held earlier today, and the company says a "limited preview" will begin rolling out to select users starting now. The new Edge is tied closely to the new Microsoft Bing, which also features ChatGPT technologies and uses natural language for web searches and other tasks.
What's wild about the new Edge is that it can analyze the webpage you're viewing, and actively help you craft reports, research, and gather data automatically using the sidebar. Here's what Microsoft has to say on the new AI features in Edge:
With the Edge Sidebar, you can ask for a summary of a lengthy financial report to get the key takeaways – and then use the chat function to ask for a comparison to a competing company’s financials and automatically put it in a table. You can also ask Edge to help you compose content, such as a LinkedIn post, by giving it a few prompts to get you started. After that, you can ask it to help you update the tone, format and length of the post. Edge can understand the web page you’re on and adapts accordingly.
Users can use the AI sidebar to generate messages, emails, social media posts using criteria specified by the user. For example, you could use it to create a celebratory announcement about getting a promotion for LinkedIn or Twitter, and have the browser write it for you. It's pretty crazy.
To access the limited preview, you'll need to be using Microsoft Edge Dev. Even then, since the preview is limited, you might not see these new features right away.