You Can Sign up Now to Try Opera’s Mysterious AI Browser

The company behind the Opera browser is launching yet another AI tool with Opera Neon, an agentic AI browser. This basically means that it's a browser with an AI agent built in, which can go beyond answering questions and will purportedly be able to browse the internet for you to help you get various things done. This includes helping you plan trips, booking vacations, and even creating web apps with simple natural language prompts. Oddly enough, this isn't Opera's first go at agentic AI, as it follows the announcement for the standard Opera browser's Browser Operator tool. Technically, Browser Operator isn't released yet, but it seems the difference is that Neon's use cases will be a bit broader, as the AI will supposedly even able to generate content in the cloud while you're offline.

The catch is that Neon isn't free, and is currently invite-only. Opera says it'll require a paid subscription when it launches, and while the company hasn't revealed the pricing or the launch date yet, you can join a waitlist to get notified about details closer to release, plus get in line for an invite.

Opera says you'll be able to use the integrated AI as a chatbot and it will be able to search the web to find answers for you. It'll also be able to handle repetitive tasks such as filling forms and shopping. The biggest draw seems to be its ability to create content, though. On the Opera Neon website, a sample screenshot shows a someone requesting the AI to make a "retro snake game" for them.

One plus going for this product is that it claims to be able to analyze webpages without recording your screen all the time (looking at you, Recall). Opera also claims that your browsing history, website data, and login information will be stored locally on your computer, which is good for anyone with privacy concerns.

It goes without saying that all of these features will only be as useful as the AI model is accurate. The last thing I'd want is to have a faceless AI model book an overpriced hotel in a shady location, so I'll be taking all these trip planning claims with a pinch of salt until I see Neon in action. 

While launching new products always gets more attention, the sheer number of Opera's recent releases means that its browser lineup is getting a bit confusing. Opera currently has the following browsers listed on its website: Opera Browser, Opera GX, Opera Air, and Opera Mini. This makes Opera Neon the fifth product in the lineup. Each has its own specialty, but I'm starting to feel a little choice paralysis here.

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