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Reviewed and published by trentmaziarz, March 22, 2026. Discovered and drafted by our automated research pipeline.
Microsoft Start is a personalized news feed that uses AI and machine learning to select articles, videos, and stories from over 1,000 publishers based on each user's reading habits and stated interests. It launched in September 2021 and is built into Windows 10, Windows 11, and the Microsoft Edge browser — appearing automatically when users open a new browser tab.
Details
Microsoft Start replaced Microsoft News on September 7, 2021. The system combines machine learning-based personalization with human editorial oversight to rank and surface content. Users can select interest topics and react to individual stories, which the system uses to refine future recommendations. Microsoft states it does not sell personalized user data to advertisers or data brokers. However, the transition to algorithmic curation was accompanied by significant layoffs of MSN and Microsoft News journalists in 2020, raising concern about the reduced role of human editorial judgment in news distribution.
Products affected
Microsoft Start (webiOSAndroid)Windows 10 (News and Interests widget)Windows 11 (Widgets panel)Microsoft Edge (New Tab page)
Sources & Evidence
News Article
Cite this record
Trace Foundation. (2026). Microsoft: Microsoft Start is a personalized news feed that uses AI and machine learning to select articles, videos, and stories from over 1,000 publishers based on each user's reading habits and stated interests. It launched in September 2021 and is built into Windows 10, Windows 11, and the Microsoft Edge browser — appearing automatically when users open a new browser tab (data as of 2026-03-22) [Data set record]. AI Trace. https://www.aitrace.org/r/practice/f8f7c0a9-f8d1-475a-82d0-f13740389aca. Accessed October 14, 2026.
- Stable link
- https://www.aitrace.org/r/practice/f8f7c0a9-f8d1-475a-82d0-f13740389aca
- Data as of
- March 22, 2026
- Last verified
- March 22, 2026
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