Microsoft Changes Edge's Name on Mobile to 'AI Browser'

The smartphone version of Microsoft’s web browser is no longer Edge on Mobile—it’s Microsoft Edge: AI Browser. Though the app’s functionality is the same (for now), both the iOS and Android versions of Edge now feature a name that places AI at the browser’s center. The change comes just days after Microsoft released Copilot, its AI assistant, in app form for iOS and Android. 
It’s no secret that Microsoft has been eager to dominate the recent AI race that it started. For better or worse, nearly everything it’s done lately has featured AI in some form, from its AI-focused Surface laptops to its new partnership with TomTom. CEO Satya Nadella is so enamored with Copilot that he even made comments last year about turning the Windows Start button—perhaps the operating system’s most identifiable feature—into a Copilot button. All that considered, it’s not surprising that Microsoft would rebrand one of its cornerstone smartphone apps to center AI.
But not everyone is thrilled about the mobile browser’s new name, even though its functionality remains the same. “I’m so deeply disappointed at every decision that Microsoft leadership makes around Edge,” one X user posted Saturday. “It’s like every time they’re presented with two options, they intentionally chose [sic] the worse option.” Another user went so far as to call the change “hot garbage.” 
On the surface, changing an app’s name is fairly innocuous. But for a company as established and influential as Microsoft, a mobile rebrand could easily symbolize something bigger. Sure, Microsoft might just want smartphone users to understand and acknowledge Edge’s link to AI-powered services; however, it’s also possible that Microsoft will keep forcing chatbots and other AI tools into its most fundamental apps until AI is center stage. 
For now, Microsoft is taking Edge’s rebrand as an opportunity to show off the browser’s AI features in the iOS App Store and Google Play Store. Both storefronts’ Edge listings boast Copilot integration, which allows users to generate text with GPT-4 and images with DALL-E 3.
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