Latest news with #HenrikLexow
Forbes
20 hours ago
- Business
- Forbes
Are Browsers Key To An Agentic AI Future? Opera, Perplexity Think So
AI-powered conversational search engine Perplexity is in the news for offering to buy Google's Chrome browser for $34.5 billion. But in December of 2024, Perplexity considered buying The Browser Co. And just months ago, Perplexity reportedly offered to buy Brave, the privacy-focused browser, for about $1 billion. Why does Perplexity want a web browser so badly? Possibly because a browser just might be key to our agentic AI future. I recently interviewed Opera senior product leader Henrik Lexow on my TechFirst podcast. Opera, the 30-year-old browser company that pioneered tabbed browsing, pop-up blocking, and ad blockers, has about 300 million active users globally. This year, Opera was the first to bring AI agents right into our browsers in a project called Opera Neon. 'The agentic browser … is that sort of the new operating system?' Lexow asked during the podcast. 'It's a big question.' Regardless of where the browser goes, Opera's pretty sure about the future of the internet itself. That's a huge shift, by the way. An agentic internet would be a massive and fundamental change from a user-driven internet to an agent-driven version. In a user-driven internet, you search, you see results, you make selections, you click links, you fill out forms, you book flights, and you buy products. In a sense, you are the agent. In an agentic internet, you tell something – maybe your agentic browser – to do those things for you. Except you don't say search, look, select, and buy; you say buy me more of the underwear I got six months ago. The agent then consults its memory, forms a plan, takes multiple steps, and handles it all: from which underwear you bought, and where you bought them, to finding the same ones online (and maybe checking around for better prices), to adding them to cart, to checking out … and reporting back to you with the results. The agent – in this case potentially an agentic browser – is therefore essentially a personal assistant, a force multiplier. But will an agentic browser be the main way we engage with agents? Perplexity seems to think it's pretty important, given the company's persistent and repeated but so far unfruitful attempt to buy a browser. Opera certainly thinks so, if only because Opera has a browser, and a very innovative one at that. Opera launched AI in a browser back in 2023 in a project called ARIA. ARIA enabled contextual interactions within web pages in a GPT-based chat interface. Over time, that's evolved to a tripartite strategy under the Opera Neon brand: The reality is that for many of us, most of our work happens in a browser. I'm writing this story in a browser. I recorded the interview in a browser. I've researched Opera and Perplexity in a browser. I made episode art for the podcast in a browser (thanks, Canva). Opera's thesis is that having agents embedded where you work makes them vastly more useful: they have access to your history, to your work, to your sites and apps. Important note: the Neon agentic browser's AI lives locally on your hardware, making it your agent, not Opera's, and not your employer's. This should boost your privacy, which is critical if you're going to give an agent access to very personal information including, likely, your credit card. Of course, this is just one vision of the future. Apple with Siri, as justly maligned as it is, would have another vision. Google, with Gemini and its own vast fleet of Android-enabled phones, would have another. Microsoft's Copilot is another. And OpenAI, which has ChatGPT apps for mobile devices as well as full computers, might have yet another vision of how we'll integrate AI into our lives and work. So whether the browser will be the locus of our agentic AI future or not is yet to be determined. Remember the old proverb: every problem looks like a nail to the person who only has a hammer. But it seems like a fairly good bet to me.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Opera announces Opera Neon, the first AI agentic browser
OSLO, Norway, May 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Opera, the Norwegian browser company [NASDAQ: OPRA], is announcing Opera Neon, a new agentic browser that rethinks the role of the browser in the coming generation of the AI agentic web. A result of years of development, Opera Neon is a browser that can understand users' intent and perform tasks for them as well as bring their ideas and needs to life on the web. To achieve this, Opera Neon introduces agentic AI browsing capabilities that go beyond traditional browsing and turn user intent into action. "We're at a point where AI can fundamentally change the way we use the internet and perform all sorts of tasks in the browser. Opera Neon brings this to our users' fingertips," said Henrik Lexow, Senior AI Product Director at Opera. "We see it as a collaborative platform to shape the next chapter of agentic browsing together with our community." Opera Neon's users can chat using the browser's native, fully integrated AI agent that allows them to search the web, get reliable answers and contextual information to the webpage they are on, and access most of the functions they have come to expect from an AI chat in a browser. Opera Neon also comes with an AI agent previously showcased as "Browser Operator." This gives users the opportunity to automate routine web tasks (like filling forms, making hotel bookings, and even shopping), and have the browser do them by understanding and interacting with the content of web pages. Neon performs these tasks locally in the browser – preserving users' privacy and security. Finally, Opera Neon allows the early adopter community to try out something never before seen in a browser – a complete AI engine capable of understanding and interpreting what they want to make, and creating it for them. Neon employs AI agents that work beyond the browser – in a virtual machine hosted in the cloud – and can continue working on the users' creation even when they go offline. Opera Neon users can, for example, ask the browser to make a game, a report, a snippet of code, or even a website – it will research, design, and build whatever users need. Opera Neon can even be asked to make multiple things at the same time – enabling true agentic multitasking right in the browser. Opera Neon is a premium subscription product. Early adopters can join the waitlist starting today. To join the waiting list, click here. 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 Learn more about Opera at View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Opera Limited
The Verge
28-05-2025
- Business
- The Verge
Opera's new AI browser promises to write code while you sleep
Opera Neon might be the first 'AI agentic browser,' but it's not ready for you to try just yet. Opera Neon might be the first 'AI agentic browser,' but it's not ready for you to try just yet. May 28, 2025, 8:08 AM UTC The latest web browser coming to Opera's roster embraces AI agents that aim to use the internet for you. The Norwegian tech company describes Opera Neon as an 'agentic browser' that has contextual awareness and performs tasks on the users' behalf, including researching, building, and designing whatever you need. 'We're at a point where AI can fundamentally change the way we use the internet and perform all sorts of tasks in the browser,' Opera senior AI product director Henrik Lexow said in the company's press release. 'Opera Neon brings this to our users' fingertips.' A notable early adopter feature is an AI engine that Opera says is 'capable of understanding and interpreting' what users request, and then making it with the help of cloud-based AI agents. For example, Opera says that Neon can make games, reports, code snippets, and websites, and can work on multiple tasks even when the user has gone offline. Opera hasn't mentioned when this will launch or how much Neon will cost, beyond it being described as a 'premium subscription product,' so there's currently little information available to back up what the browser is supposedly capable of. Otherwise, Neon offers AI tools similar to those found in Microsoft's Copilot and OpenAI's Operator. Opera says that Neon users can use a chatbot interface to search the web, answer queries, and get 'contextual information' from the webpage they have open. Opera Neon also features an AI Agent that Opera previously introduced back in March as 'Browser Operator,' which allows users to automate routine web tasks, such as shopping, filling in online forms, and booking events or accommodation. Opera says the tool interacts with web page content locally on the browser to preserve privacy and security. Details are otherwise slim about Neon, which is the fifth browser in Opera's quiver, after announcing its mindfulness-focused Air browser in February. We will know more about Opera Neon's real-world capabilities when it fully rolls out into beta — when, is anyone's guess as the company won't provide us a firm date. You can sign up for the waitlist here.
