Microsoft turns to AI to improve Edge browser – but after the Recall debacle I’m worried it could be another privacy nightmare
- Microsoft Edge has a new AI feature hidden in testing
- ‘Journeys’ uses your browsing activity to produce AI-powered “helpful summaries”
- This could be a very convenient touch – the catches are it may require a Copilot Pro subscription and some privacy worries are attached
Microsoft has another AI feature planned for its Edge web browser – or at least that appears to be the case – but there’s something of a catch here.
Windows Latest noticed the new functionality, called ‘Journeys’, in testing with Edge, where it’s currently hidden in the latest Canary build of the browser. You need to set a flag to enable it, but even then, the feature doesn’t actually work yet.
All you can see is the option for turning on Journeys in the interface, which lives in the ‘AI Innovations’ panel in Edge’s settings, and the accompanying text that explains what Journeys is all about.
We’re told that Journeys uses AI to turn your browsing activity, including the content of web pages, into “helpful summaries” to make it easy for you to revisit past work or resume whatever tasks you may have previously been carrying out in Edge.
Let’s come back to the aforementioned catch with this new AI trick for Edge, which is that it won’t be free. At least if it’s implemented as the interface shows in testing, because next to the slider to enable it is an ‘Upgrade to Pro’ button.
In other words, this feature looks like it’ll only be available to those who subscribe to Copilot Pro (at the price of $20 per month currently).
Of course, you wouldn’t be paying that $20 just for access to Journeys, but a whole bunch of other stuff that’s provided in the Copilot Pro package. Still, the fact remains that this isn’t something your average Edge user will benefit from – unless Microsoft changes its mind about the positioning of the feature between now and release.
Analysis: how Journeys might work – and some privacy concerns
Of course, Microsoft may never realize this concept as part of Copilot Pro, or in any other form. This is still very early work in testing. However, the company is obviously keen to push AI hard in Edge (and more broadly, Windows 11), so I’d bet that this is a fairly likely development for the future.
As to how it might work, we don’t get much in the way of clues, although the name ‘Journeys’ suggests there will be various threads of activity kept by Edge, presumably organized by AI in what should be a helpful way.
It sounds like a potentially useful feature, though anything that involves the monitoring your browsing activity, and specifically diving into the content of web pages you visit, is likely to induce cold sweats for the privacy conscious – particularly after the whole ongoing Recall debacle.
That said, in the case of Journeys, the blurb revealed in testing also contains an assurance that “your data is securely stored on your device and is never used for AI training and advertising”. I take that to mean that the relevant data will be used locally by Edge, and not sent to the cloud, thereby theoretically maintaining the privacy of your browsing history – although the cloud isn’t explicitly ruled out as such. So, concerns remain at this (admittedly early) stage of the game.
Microsoft will doubtless explain more when – or rather, if – the company officially makes Journeys a part of Edge. As Windows Latest points out, Edge has a built-in AI model (Phi-4-mini) that could be used to deal with the necessary processing locally, on the device, staying out of the cloud (and making the feature run more snappily, too) – so that could well be the plan.
If this does turn out to be a vehicle to help drive Copilot Pro subscriptions, though, it may see limited usage anyway.
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Microsoft Edge has a new AI feature hidden in testing ‘Journeys’ uses your browsing activity to produce AI-powered “helpful summaries” This could be a very convenient touch – the catches are it may require a Copilot Pro subscription and some privacy worries are attached Microsoft has another AI feature planned…
