Opera has unveiled a new web standard called WebAI that enables users to run AI models directly within its browser, eliminating the need for cloud-based processing. The standard is built to accommodate a wide range of AI models—Opera specifically mentions Google's Gemma, an open-weight model Google first released two years ago, as one example. On Macs, WebAI also supports Apple's on-device foundation model, according to the company. Opera emphasizes, however, that WebAI isn't locked to any single model and is designed to work with a broad spectrum of open-weight AI systems.

EMBED_PLACEHOLDER_0

WebAI emerged from Opera's earlier efforts to bring locally run models into its browsers. The new AI features are being released as an early preview in Opera's flagship Opera One browser. Opera GX—the company's browser tailored for gamers and streamers—and Opera Neon, which uses AI agents to perform tasks, will receive the same capabilities soon, according to Opera. Users must actively opt in to use the feature, the company says.

Open-weight models bring several advantages. They are generally free to download and use, and their underlying model weights are publicly available, giving developers greater freedom to customize how they function—though unlike fully open-source software, open-weight models still carry some restrictions. Privacy is another key benefit, Opera said: users can access AI features without transmitting personal information to company servers or paying for a cloud-based AI subscription.

"Developers can add AI features without running AI infrastructure or paying for every request," the company said in its announcement. "Users don't need AI subscriptions, the information the local AI handles stays on their own device, and they stay in control of the AI on their computer."

EMBED_PLACEHOLDER_1

Opera says WebAI also lets anyone generate text, classify content, and understand relationships between pieces of information—all directly in the browser. Privacy concerns have intensified as AI assistants grow more capable and gain access to personal data. Users frequently hand over large amounts of personal information to AI chatbots, sometimes without fully understanding how that data is stored or used. Locally run models provide an alternative by processing everything on the user's own device rather than on a company's cloud server. This doesn't remove every privacy risk, but it does give users more control—which makes sense given that Opera has long made digital privacy one of its primary selling points.

There are trade-offs, though. Running AI models locally places greater demands on a user's computer, which can impact performance. Opera notes that model performance will depend on the device's hardware.