Opera introduces a new web standard to let users deploy AI locally in their browser

Opera has introduced a new web standard, WebAI, that allows users to run AI models directly in their browser, supporting a variety of open-weight models, including Google's Gemma and Apple's on-device foundation model. The new standard is available as an early preview in Opera's flagship Opera One browser, with other browsers, such as Opera GX and Opera Neon, to follow soon. Users can opt into the feature, which provides benefits such as free access to AI models, customization freedom, and improved privacy by keeping AI processing on their own device. Developers can add AI features without running AI infrastructure or paying for every request, and users can tap into AI features without sending personal information to a company's servers. The company says this keeps users in control of the AI on their computer.