Opera's new WebAI standard brings open-weight models to the browser

Browser maker Opera has introduced WebAI, a new web standard designed to let users run AI models directly in the browser without relying on cloud services. The standard works with a range of open-weight models, including Google's Gemma, first introduced in 2024, and Apple's on-device foundation model on Macs. Opera said WebAI is not tied to any single model and grew out of its earlier work on local AI in browsers.

The feature is available as an early preview in Opera One, with Opera GX and Opera Neon expected to follow. Users must opt in. Opera said WebAI also enables text generation, content classification and semantic relationship understanding directly in the browser.

The company emphasized privacy and control benefits: local processing keeps data on the user's device, and developers can add AI features without operating AI infrastructure or paying per request. It also noted trade-offs, as running models locally places more demand on device hardware and performance will depend on the user's configuration.