Browser maker Opera has rolled out a new web standard that lets users run AI models directly in its browser, without sending their requests to the cloud. The standard, called WebAI, is designed to work with a variety of models, and the company says it is not locked to any single one.
Opera cites Gemma, an open-weight model that Google introduced two years ago, as one example. On Macs, WebAI also supports Apple's on-device foundation model, the company said. Opera says the standard is built to support a wide range of open-weight AI systems, rather than a particular product from one developer.
WebAI grew out of earlier work by Opera to bring locally run models into its browsers. The company is making the features available as an early preview in Opera One, its flagship browser. Opera GX, the browser built for gamers and streamers, and Opera Neon, which uses AI agents to perform tasks, will soon get the same capability, according to the company. Users have to choose to turn the feature on.
Open-weight models have a few clear appeals for both users and developers. They are typically free to download and use, and because their underlying model weights are publicly available, developers have more room to customize how the models work. Open-weight models are not the same as fully open source software, however, and they still come with some restrictions.
Opera is leaning hard on privacy as the main reason to run models locally. Users can tap into AI features without sending their personal information to a company's servers, and without paying for a cloud-based AI subscription. Opera's announcement put it this way: "Developers can add AI features without running AI infrastructure or paying for every request. 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."
The company said WebAI also lets people generate text, classify content and understand how pieces of information relate to one another, all within the browser.
Privacy has become a growing concern as AI assistants grow more powerful and gain access to more personal data. Many users hand over large amounts of information to AI chatbots, often without a clear idea of how that data is stored or used. Local models offer an alternative because the processing happens on the user's own machine rather than on a company's cloud server. That does not remove every privacy risk, but it does give users more control over their data. Opera has made digital privacy one of its primary selling points for years, and WebAI extends that pitch.
There are trade-offs. Running AI models locally puts more demands on a user's computer, which can affect performance. Opera notes that how well the models run will depend on the device's hardware.
Este artículo fue escrito con la asistencia de IA.
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