Microsoft will allow IT admins to force Copilot in Edge over other AI apps

Microsoft Edge will soon let IT admins block shadow AI tools and redirect users to Copilot for safer, policy-controlled usage.

Microsoft Edge Logo

Many organizations enforce or encourage the use of Microsoft Edge, especially if they are already heavily entrenched in Redmond's ecosystem. Although governance tools like Purview already exist that allow IT admins to monitor the distribution of data and use of software within their tenant, Microsoft is now going a step further with an upcoming feature in its Edge browser.

Microsoft has recently begun tracking a new capability on its public Microsoft 365 Roadmap, which will restrict "shadow AI" within Edge. For those unaware, this term refers to the practice of using AI tools without securing prior approval from your organization. Since these tools are used without proper governance or organizational oversight, they may pose serious cybersecurity risks for your firm.

Although IT admins could already configure policies in Purview Data Loss Prevention (DLP) that would restrict the transmission of prompts or sensitive data to generative AI (GenAI) apps and LLMs in Edge. Now, Microsoft is building a new UI that will allow IT admins to show an option that will redirect users to a new tab with Microsoft 365 Copilot already opened.

In practice, what this means is that you casually use ChatGPT on the side for office activities, the enforcement of this policy would restrict you from opening the page in Edge, and instead show you a button that will redirect you to Microsoft 365 Copilot instead.

Right now, Microsoft supports blocking access to the following AI tools in Edge for Business:

Adobe Firefly
CapCut
ChatGPT (consumer)
Cohere
DeepAI
DeepL
DeepSeek
Google Gemini
Grok (xAI)
Meta AI
Microsoft Copilot 365 Chat
Notion AI
Otter.ai
Perplexity AI
QwenAI
Qwen Chat
Runway
Textcortex
Textcortex Zenochat
You (You.com)
Zapier

Having a button that redirects to Microsoft 365 Copilot may be better for some organizations' cybersecurity posture, as this AI app supports enterprise data protection through compliance boundaries, tenant isolation, and excluding data from model training.

This feature is landing next month, and you can view additional licensing details regarding Purview DLP here.