WebAI: Opera offers a standard for running AI models locally, directly in the browser

As an overview in Opera One, WebAI allows sites to use a model installed on the user's computer, such as Gemma or Apple's local model, without going through the cloud.

Opera presented WebAI, a proposed web standard that allows AI models to be run on the user's machine, from the browser, rather than on a provider's servers. Pages can generate text, classify content, or link information based on a local model.

The device is designed to accommodate open-weight models, starting with Google's Gemma, as well as Apple's embedded model on the Mac. Opera highlights the absence of a subscription and the fact that the processed data remains on the device; the trade-off is that performance depends directly on each person's hardware.

Availability

WebAI is offered in preview, on voluntary activation, in Opera One. Opera GX and Opera Neon, the publisher's agent-based browser, are expected to follow soon. It remains to be seen whether other browsers will adopt this standard.