Opera browser unveils AI agent that handles online tasks for you

Opera has previewed a new AI agent feature that promises to complete online tasks on your behalf, based on simple, written prompts. 

Want to book a flight but don’t want to spend ages comparing prices? Tell the bot your preferred flight times, seats, and budget and it’ll get to work in the background, letting you carry on with whatever it was you were doing. Once it’s done, it’ll add the item to your cart and you can proceed to pay. 

Unlike existing tools like Google AI assistant or ChatGPT, which help you find information by summarising search results, answering questions, and suggesting links, Opera’s AI agent does the browsing for you. 

Opera claims the tool — dubbed Browser Operator — signals a “new paradigm” in the history of browsing.    

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“For more than 30 years, the browser gave you access to the web, but it has never been able to get stuff done for you. Now it can,” said Opera’s executive vice president Krystian Kolondra. “This is different from anything we’ve seen or shipped so far.” 

Browser Operator isn’t just for shopping, though. It can search the web for whatever you need, potentially saving you time on menial tasks. Importantly, the tool comes with some built-in safeguards. You see what it’s doing at every step in the process and can easily pause or cancel any task.  

Opera claims the AI agent is the first agentic browsing feature launched by any major browser. However, major AI firms are working on their versions of similar systems.

Last year, Anthropic launched a “computer use” feature that allows its Claude chatbot to take over your computer and browse on your behalf. OpenAI unveiled a similar feature — “Operator” — in January.  

Both of those tools, however, are virtual machines that operate in the cloud. Simply put, this means they’re slow. In contrast, Opera’s tool operates locally, directly on your browser, making it potentially much faster — and more secure. 

Unlike Claude or Operator, Opera’s agent doesn’t take screenshots or capture videos of your screen. By processing tasks locally, it ensures user data remains on the device, which the company said enhances privacy.

Opera plans to launch the full version of the Browser Operator in “the near future.” The tool is the latest in a long line of AI developments at the Norwegian company. In 2023, Opera launched a fully AI-enabled browser, and last year it became the first major browser to integrate large language models (LLMs).