- Microsoft implements co -pilot prompts on the new Edge tab page
- It also deploys an ability to trigger web search to occur with Copilot rather than bing
- The movements in the tests so that Copilot takes control of the new tab page always seem to be in the pipeline
Microsoft Edge gets more co -pilot, the AI assistant coming to the new tab page (or NTP) more importantly.
The NTP is what you see in the web browser when you open a new tab, serving as a starting point to explore what you might want to do in Edge – which will generally be, but not always, a search on the web.
However, rather than this traditional query in the research area (which triggers a bing search, not surprising), Microsoft would prefer that you use Copilot, because there is an icon for the AI assistant right next to the said web search option.
By clicking on this icon, the co-pilot on the web, ready for your request, but with the last update for Edge version 136 (which was deployed earlier this month), Microsoft deploys a more complete integration of the AI in the NTP.
The latest Windows reports that Microsoft explains in the publication notes for the update, “from the end of May 2025, users can see co -pilot prompts linked to work and productivity suggested by their research zone on the NTP page.”
These suggested prompts are efforts to “get advice” or “write a first project” which invokes the co -pilot to carry out the indicated task.
Microsoft also notes that some on -board users can also see the co -pilot icon in the search area, and when they click, this triggers the current search request, but send it to Copilot rather than solving it.
Analysis: Co -pilot context
In short, Copilot slowly wins a grip on the new tab page, although the capacities mentioned are part of what Microsoft calls a “deployment of controlled features”, and I imagine that it will be a fairly slow and provisional matter. I don’t have this feature yet on my Edge browser, and Windows later.
The company will probably want to make this deployment at a quiet pace, because there are Windows 11 users who are wary of seeing AI slip into more corners of the operating system and its various applications, which is certainly Microsoft’s intention to continue. Thus, moving slowly and regularly the temperature of the feedback is probably the path to follow for Microsoft.
More AI probably arrives at the Microsoft browser, however, in the form of the Copilot Edge mode identified by Windows (hidden in the flags menu, as experimental functionality in Edge).
This seems to be Microsoft’s plan that has already been seen in the tests, by which the new tab page becomes much more focused on the co -pilot – learn more here (and see the screenshot above for an overview of what it might look like). He also throws the MSN flow in favor of Copilot, which, I think, is a good compromise (although your opinion on this subject can vary, of course).
A second part of this Copilot mode can be a less popular addition, namely the “context indices”, which use the web page you visit, and your web history, to allow AI to provide better and more personal answers.
A good number of red confidentiality flags appear at this stage, but we do not know how (or even if) this function will be implemented – although it certainly seems to allow Copilot to access your navigation history. As such, it will surely be an optional (and opt-in) capacity, if all this is done with Edge.
Remember that all of this is still in testing, with the exception of the modifications made to the NTP that Microsoft has confirmed are now deployed with Edge V136.
