GPT-5.1 Appears in Microsoft Edge Beta's Copilot Smart Mode

A new GPT-5.1 label has appeared in Microsoft Edge Beta‘s consumer Copilot experience. In the latest build we tested, Smart mode on the Copilot New Tab page is described as “Explore the web or chat with Copilot (GPT-5.1).”

Since its debut as Bing Chat, Microsoft’s Copilot has relied on OpenAI’s GPT models. Microsoft already uses GPT-5.1 in several Copilot products, including Microsoft 365 Copilot, where the model can switch between faster responses and deeper reasoning based on the prompt.

Copilot’s Smart mode first launched with GPT-5 in August 2025. This is the first Edge Beta build Windows Report has tested that identifies the newer model as GPT-5.1. Microsoft has not announced GPT-5.1 for Edge’s consumer Copilot experience.

To confirm the label wasn’t limited to the interface, we inspected Edge Beta’s New Tab page resources, specifically the strings.mjs file that stores the browser’s UI text. We found the same GPT-5.1 text in the browser resources, so the label isn’t limited to what’s shown on screen.

The same resource file also references “Smart (GPT-5),” meaning both GPT-5 and GPT-5.1 appear in the same file. It also contains strings for Model selection, described as “Choose a model to power AI,” although the option isn’t available in Edge Beta yet.

Copilot’s mode picker also includes Actions, Quick response, Think Deeper, and Study and learn alongside Smart. We recently tested the Actions mode and confirmed it can perform browser tasks, including opening websites and grouping related tabs automatically.

Microsoft hasn’t announced when the GPT-5.1 label will reach all Edge users. The GPT-5.1 label appears both in the interface and in the browser’s resources in the Edge Beta build we tested.