Opera is the latest company to announce that AI-generated content is being integrated into its desktop and mobile web browsers.
A number of AI capabilities are promised for the Opera browser, but the first is a new "Shorten" button appearing on the address bar. When a user clicks it, ChatGPT will be used to produce a short summary of the web page or an article it contains. Opera views this as a novel solution to the web being "flooded by content in amounts that are impossible for us to process." Of course, this only works if the summaries being produced are always accurate—and AI is not perfect.
It's unclear exactly how many AI features are set to be added to the browser, but Opera is clearly leaving no stone unturned. Song Lin, Co-CEO of Opera said "Following the mass interest in generative AI tools, we believe it’s now time for browsers to step up and become the gateway to an AI-powered web."
Per Wetterdal, Head of Strategic Partnerships and AI ecosystem at Opera added:
"We see the rise of Generative Intelligence as the beginning of a new future in which consumer app developers like Opera will be able to build experiences on top of AI-based platforms. We are excited to see the rapid roll-out of developer programs for solutions such as Google Bard, for example, and are starting to build and roll out new experiences in web browsing that not very long ago seemed impossible to achieve."
For now, no timeline has been given for when we can expect to see AI form a part of the Opera browsing experience. Based on what other browsers are doing though, I'm sure Opera is making AI integration a priority.