Microsoft is trying to rename its Edge Internet browser. Its name should no longer remind you that its shortcut icon sits alone and forgotten at the edge of your Windows desktop. Now Microsoft is trying to claim that Edge is cutting edge of AI. The Redmond tech giant has started calling its native Internet browser “Microsoft Edge: AI Browser.” If you think it’s already a bit imminent, expect more companies to do this in the coming year.
The nickname appears when searching for Edge on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store (although “browser” is lowercase on Play store, for certain reasons). Microsoft previously called it “your AI-powered browser” after adding Bing’s AI features to it last year, but now “AI” is front and center for people downloading the mobile app . The application description now speaks to that of the browser GPT-4 capabilities with the Integrated Copilot chatbot following Bing search. The browser also has access to OpenAI’s DALL-E 3 AI image generator model, accessible through the co-pilot. The edge noticed this name change for the first time. Microsoft updated the App Store pages over the holidays.
At the same time, Microsoft has quietly released a full Copilot app on iOS and Android. It is essentially the same deal as the ChatGPT app (although it gives you access to GPT-4 for free), giving users access to Copilot chatbot features and DALL-E image creation. Unlike Copilot in Bing or on desktop, it doesn’t have the ability to access your usage history or any of your other apps. So while you can ask it to write your dry work emails for you, it’s up to each user to copy and paste the text.
Apple has some (allegedly) strict privacy requirements for the applications available on its devices. The App Store description also spends a lot of time describing Edge’s privacy features, noting that there is “no saved search history” on Bing or users’ Microsoft accounts. However, in business Terms of use in its “AI Services” section, Microsoft says it processes and stores your AI inputs “for the purposes of monitoring and preventing abusive or harmful use or output of the service.” The company has already stated in a blog post Last year, Bing Enterprise Chat, the enterprise-oriented version of Bing AI, did not save chat data and that “no one at Microsoft can see your data.”
However, none of these brands appear when you search for Edge in the Microsoft Store. This is likely because all Windows PCs already have Edge, but it also shows how CEO Satya Nadella and company are trying to be the first to try and ride the AI brand tsunami that is upon us. about to fall on our heads in 2024.
So you already have “E” devices and “Smart” technologies, but the next big change this year will be explicitly “AI” branded devices. CES is fast approaching and we are already seeing devices that use modern deep learning algorithms bringing “AI” to the forefront. Take the Signature OLED M4 and G4 TVs from LG, the company Just announced Today. These TVs feature the “cutting-edge AI processor,” claiming that it helps improve picture quality through AI-enhanced upscaling. We won’t see them in person for a week, so we don’t know if said processor gives a slightly better display, but that’s not really the point.
This is just one more step before LG or other TV makers brand their devices “TV AI.” Next week, we’ll see even more devices promoting AI right out of the gate. We’ll likely see AI make its way into refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, massage chairs, and many other obvious consumer devices. Google And Samsung are in a race to promote their smartphones as a “true AI phone”. Last year, Intel launched its new mobile chip, while trying to coin the term “AI PC”.
So don’t be too surprised this year if you read about the new “AI electric bike” or the rebranded “AI toilet.” Eventually, the word will be as ubiquitous as “smart” is today, because it becomes so universal that the term completely loses its meaning.