Two days after OpenAI’s Atlas, Microsoft relaunches an almost identical AI browser

Microsoft on Thursday released a new batch of features for its AI assistant, including an ambitious project Which directly builds artificial intelligence into one of its most central products. More than a simple detail, Copilot mode in Microsoft’s Edge browser Microsoft has taken over the long-hyped AI browser category – an intelligent and flexible AI assistant that follows you as you browse the web.

Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleiman also described the new product in similar terms in the announcement. “Copilot mode in Edge is evolving into an AI browser that is your dynamic, intelligent companion,” Suleiman wrote in the announcement post. “With your permission, Co-Pilot can view and reason about your open tabs, summarize and compare information, and even take actions like booking a hotel or filling out a form.”

official launch Copilot mode for Edge was around in July, when it was introduced with basic features like a search bar on a new tab and natural voice navigation. But this mode was opt-in and didn’t get as much attention as you’d hope. At Thursday’s event, Microsoft went more ambitious, introducing “Actions” that allow CoPilot to fill out a form or book a hotel and introducing “Journeys” that let CoPilot trace connections between your open tabs. This isn’t a huge change to the product, but it was enough to put the idea of ​​an AI browser at the center of the program.

The announcement comes just two days after a similar launch by OpenAI, which showed off its new Atlas browser. Of course, Copilot’s release has been scheduled for weeks, and the new Copilot mode has likely been in development for months. No company invented the idea of ​​an AI-assisted web browser. But the visual similarity between the two products is hard to ignore.

These are two absolutely similar pictures. CoPilot’s Edge background is slightly darker, there’s text instead of a logo, and the close/minimize buttons follow Windows conventions rather than MacOS conventions. Additionally, CoPilot puts its “ride-along” function in a new tab instead of split-screen… but that’s it. It’s pretty much the same product.

Part of the similarity is functional: people love clean browsers, and there are plenty of ways to integrate chatbot windows into “new tab” screens. For users, the main difference will come from the underlying model, so a slight facial similarity may not make a huge difference.

Browsers mostly look alike anyway. But given the high stakes of the AI ​​race and the tense situation between the two companies, it seems significant that we got both of these browsers in the same week.

Correction: A previous version of this post mistakenly referred to the October 23 event as the initial launch of Copilot for Edge. Actually, this feature was launched in July. TechCrunch regrets the error.