**Opera’s AI Browser Operator: A Fresh Phase in Web Navigation**
In early April, Opera unveiled its groundbreaking AI Browser Operator, offering an insight into its vision for agentic browsing in the age of AI. This announcement introduced a novel browser named Opera Neon, which incorporates the Operator as a fundamental element instead of just a feature.
### Opera’s Confidence in the “Agentic Web”
Opera highlights that Neon is crafted not only for browsing purposes but also for proactively undertaking tasks on behalf of users. This encompasses a variety of capabilities, including researching, designing, and even developing websites, code snippets, reports, and games. The browser functions with AI agents that operate in the cloud, enabling them to keep processing tasks even if the user’s device is offline. Furthermore, Neon boasts the Browser Operator, an integrated AI agent with which users can interact to obtain contextual responses, automate online tasks like filling forms or booking accommodations, and directly engage with webpage content.
Henrik Lexow, Opera’s Senior AI Product Director, remarked, “We’re at a juncture where AI can radically alter the way we navigate the internet and carry out numerous tasks within the browser. Opera Neon places this at our users’ fingertips. (…) We view it as a collaborative platform to co-create the next era of agentic browsing alongside our community.”
### The AI Browser Competition is Underway
Opera’s latest browser makes its entrance into a swiftly growing market of AI-augmented browsers, contending with Microsoft Edge featuring Copilot, Chrome with Gemini, Perplexity’s Comet, Brave with Leo, and Firefox’s recent beta release of Link Previews. Even Apple has woven subtle AI features into Safari’s Reader Mode.
Despite the buzz surrounding Neon, a number of questions linger unanswered. The performance of Neon in practical situations beyond basic showcases, pricing specifics, and the timeline for wider user accessibility are still uncertain, as users presently need to join a waitlist for access.
If Opera can fulfill its ambitious commitments, Neon may represent a crucial marker of the future of web navigation, potentially altering how users interact with the internet.
