Opera's WebAI lets your browser run AI on your own computer

Opera has announced WebAI, a new web standard designed to let AI models run directly inside your browser instead of on a company's servers.

It is not tied to one model. Opera says it should work with a range of open-weight models, such as Google's Gemma, and on Macs it can also use Apple's built-in on-device model. Once it is switched on, the browser can write text, sort content into categories and work out how pieces of information relate to each other, all on your own machine.

For now it is an early preview in Opera One, and you have to opt in. Versions for Opera GX and Opera Neon are promised soon. Opera says developers will be able to add AI features to websites without running their own AI systems or paying for every request, and that people would not need a separate AI subscription.

The big attraction is privacy: anything processed locally stays on your device rather than being sent to a company's servers. TechCrunch notes that this doesn't remove every risk, and that running AI locally puts more demand on your computer, so results will depend on how powerful it is.

What this means for your business

If you handle customer details, local AI could one day be a safer way to summarise or sort them without sending anything off your premises. It is early days, so there's no need to switch browsers yet, but it's worth knowing the option is coming when you next weigh up an AI tool's privacy.