According to news released by Windows Latest, Microsoft is using the Microsoft Edge browser to intercept three AI applications: ChatGPT, DeepSeek, and Perplexity. The interception method is similar to the way Microsoft intercepts the Chrome browser through Microsoft Edge.
When users use the Edge browser to access AI applications such as ChatGPT, Microsoft will pop up a small label on the right side of the address bar to remind users to try Microsoft's Copilot. When the user clicks on this small label, Copilot will be opened in the sidebar of the browser in the form of columns, allowing users to ask questions or upload files.
The test found that only three AI applications, ChatGPT, DeepSeek and Perplexity, will be blocked. If the user accesses Claude or Gemini, this prompt will not pop up. Obviously, this is intentionally set by Microsoft for the above three AI applications.
According to statistics from market research agencies, the share of the Copilot AI web version in the consumer market is very low, only about 2%, so it is incomparable with ChatGPT and the like. Of course, if you include the overall Copilot in Windows, Microsoft 365 and Edge, the market share will be higher.
So now Microsoft should want to increase the frequency of consumers using Copilot in the browser and web version by cutting off the Hu, but this approach is still somewhat unpleasant. After all, the Microsoft Edge browser is pre-installed in Windows 10/11, and the browser's market share is also gradually increasing.
If the share of the Edge browser continues to rise in the future, Microsoft will indeed be able to get more traffic to promote its products through this browser truncation method. It just hopes that other browsers will not learn this behavior, otherwise it will be too bad.