Opera becomes the first major browser with AI-based agentic browsing during MWC

BARCELONA, Spain, March 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Norwegian browser company Opera (NASDAQ:OPRA) is today announcing the Browser Operator, a native AI agent that is able to perform browsing tasks for users, allowing them to focus on more exciting parts of their lives instead. The introduction of agentic browsing  marks a major paradigm shift for browsers, and with today's preview, Opera is taking the lead on it.



"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. This is different from anything we've seen or shipped so far," said Krystian Kolondra, EVP "The Browser Operator we're presenting today marks the first step towards shifting the role of the browser from a display engine to an application that is agentic and performs tasks for its users." 

User's natural language transformed into browsing tasks

The Browser Operator, currently being demoed as a feature preview, is designed to give users superpowers when browsing - through AI agentics, while safeguarding their privacy. The concept is simple: Browser Operator allows the browser users to explain what they need it to do in natural language, and the browser sets out to perform tasks for them. They can, for example, ask it to buy them a pack of 10 pairs of white tennis socks from Nike in a size 12. The Browser Operator will then perform this task, freeing the user's time that would have been otherwise spent on this menial task. This aligns with the broader role of the browser, which is there to make users more powerful while online and to give them tools to use their time more efficiently.

The browser that works the web for you

While working on completing a task, Browser Operator lets users see what's going on at any point in the process as well as what steps it took to complete it. During this process, the user remains in full control and can take over or cancel the task at any given moment. The best part is that Browser Operator works in the same environment as the user: the browser. It doesn't require a virtual machine or a server in the cloud.

Faster and private agentic browsing with user in control

Opera's AI agent differs from the approaches to agentic browsing that are currently being tested by other companies. Opera's solution utilizes native, client-side solutions. It protects user privacy by not relying on screenshots or video capture of the browsing session, nor on a version of the browser running in the cloud or a virtual machine. Instead, the Browser Operator is interacting deep in the core of the browser,  keeping user data locally on the device.

Availability

Operas Browser Operator is currently available as a preview of the upcoming functionality. Opera expects to launch the new Browser Operator as part of its AI feature drop program in the near future.

Opera's path toward agentic browsing

Opera has a track record of pioneering functionalities that then become the new standard in the browsing world: it invented tabs with Opera 4, it was also the first to introduce search in the address bar, as well as the first one to offer a built-in VPN and messengers in the sidebar and the first one to offer native browser AI. In 2023, Opera redesigned its flagship browser to make it AI centric. Since March 2024, the company has been pursuing its AI Feature Drops program, which tests experimental AI features such as local LLMs, Image Generation, and AI Tab Commands in the developer stream of the browser and ships them to users on a regular basis. Today, it's redefining the role of the browser yet again, by becoming the first browser to perform tasks for its users, thus becoming agentic. Browser Operator is being previewed during MWC in Barcelona today.

About Opera

Opera is a user-centric and innovative software company focused on enabling the best possible internet browsing experience across all devices. Hundreds of millions use Opera web browsers for their unique and secure features on mobile phones and desktop computers. Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Oslo, Norway, Opera is a public company listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol OPRA. Download the Opera web browsers and other Opera products from opera.com. Learn more about Opera at investor.opera.com.

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SOURCE Opera Limited