Microsoft tests a switch to turn off some of Edge's built-in AI

Microsoft is testing a switch in its Edge browser that lets you turn off AI features that run on your own computer. It is not a full AI off button. Nothing suggests it turns off Copilot or Microsoft's online AI services.

What changed

The setting is called On-device AI. It sits under Settings > Copilot and AI in Edge Canary, an early test version of the browser. Windows Report spotted it in the latest preview build. It controls whether Edge can use AI models stored and run locally on your PC, rather than ones that run online.

Microsoft says that with the setting on, Edge can use local models for support features. Turn it off and those features may stop working. Edge does not say which features those are.

What is still unclear

• Whether the switch disables Edge's local tools for writing help, language detection and translation.
• Which browser features depend on those tools.
• Whether the setting will reach the regular version of Edge.

Edge already tests a Prompt API, which lets websites and extensions use the browser's built-in language model for tasks like summarizing and rewriting. For that testing, Microsoft uses a prerelease model called Aion-1.0-Instruct, downloaded to supported PCs.

If you use Edge, this may give you some control over local AI. Check what still runs before you assume it is all off.