Opera has just unveiled Neon, "a new generation agentic browser". In short, the browser relies on artificial intelligence to facilitate web browsing for users. Neon's AI is "capable of understanding what the user wants, acting on their behalf, and transforming their ideas into concrete actions", Opera explains in a press release. According to Opera, the browser will browse the web for you.
With its new web browser, the Norwegian company is modernizing a product that dates back to 2017, and was already called Neon. Forgotten in a drawer for several years, the first version of Neon already promised to revolutionize the world of web browsers. The concept inspired many of the features integrated into Opera products in recent years. As Opera indicates, part of the philosophy behind the concept is making a comeback, eight years later.
The three strengths of Opera Neon
The new Opera Neon is built around three main features. First, there is the Chat function. Unsurprisingly, the browser includes a chatbot, similar to Aria, the intelligent assistant integrated into Opera One R2. This conversational agent is capable of searching the web for you. It can also answer questions, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, or Perplexity, and generate images, text, or files on demand. According to Opera, the agent allows "to benefit from all the features expected of a modern AI assistant integrated into the browser". This is the most obvious part of a browser powered by generative AI.
Next, we have the Do function. Opera has built on the capabilities of Browser Operator, its AI agent announced in March. The feature allows the user to entrust certain tasks to their browser. For example, Neon can book a hotel for you, fill out a form, or find a pair of shoes by browsing e-commerce sites. The user only has to validate any orders and make the payment. The browser "takes care of these actions by understanding and interacting directly with the content of web pages", Opera says. The entire operation takes place locally. Opera does not use the computing power of remote servers to handle the requests of its interlocutor.
Finally, Neon also relies on a feature called Make. This feature allows the browser to design a website, code a game, or write a complete document instead of the user. For these tasks, Opera uses servers located in Europe. Creation continues independently, even if the user closes the browser. In this respect, Neon is somewhat reminiscent of Manus, the Chinese AI that aims to do everything for us. All these functions rely on intelligent agents "operating in a secure virtual machine in the cloud."
A subscription-based browser
For Opera, Neon marks the beginning of the browser revolution. The company, now in the hands of a Chinese consortium, states that Neon is "a collaborative platform to shape the next chapter of agentic browsing together with our community." Opera is counting on feedback from early users to help improve its offering.
Neon will be offered through a premium subscription. Opera is offering interested users the opportunity to join the waiting list to experience the browser before everyone else. For now, Opera has remained silent on the price of the Neon subscription.
Opera isn't the only company promising a web browsing revolution thanks to AI. Perplexity, a big name in AI, has announced the arrival of its own browser, Comet. Other examples include the Arc Search project, and OpenAI's Operator.
Source: Opera
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