Opera has officially announced its new “agentic” web browser, Opera Neon, signaling a significant push into AI-driven internet interaction. Positioned as a premium subscription product, Neon aims to transform how users engage with the web by employing AI agents designed to understand intent and proactively execute tasks, according to the company.
The capabilities of Opera Neon range from research and automating online routines to content creation, with Opera claiming Neon can generate games, reports, and even websites. Early adopters can now join a waitlist for Neon via its official website.
This launch is noteworthy as it represents a potential shift from browsers as passive tools to active, intelligent digital partners. Opera Neon, a result of years of development, promises to perform complex tasks, even when the user is offline, by leveraging cloud-based AI for creation and local processing for task automation to bolster privacy.
The browser enters a competitive arena, challenging established AI integrations like Microsoft’s Copilot and OpenAI’s Operator, alongside emerging AI-native browsers such as Perplexity AI’s upcoming Comet browser.
Neon’s “Agentic” Core
Opera Neon’s “agentic” power is structured around three main functionalities: “Chat,” “Do,” and “Make.” The “Chat” feature offers a native AI agent for web searching, providing answers and contextual information related to the active webpage.
For the “Do” capability, Neon utilizes an AI agent, previously introduced by Opera in March as “Browser Operator”, to automate routine web activities like filling forms and managing bookings. Opera highlights that these tasks are processed locally to maintain user privacy.
The most ambitious component is “Make,” designed to interpret user requests and generate complex outputs. Opera explains that Neon uses AI agents in a cloud-hosted virtual machine to research, design, and build items such as games or code snippets, with the ability to continue working offline.
Henrik Lexow, Opera’s Senior AI Product Director, conveyed the company’s vision, stating that AI can “fundamentally change the way we use the internet,” and that Opera Neon “brings this to our users’ fingertips.”
He also described Neon as a “collaborative platform to shape the next chapter of agentic browsing together with our community.” This initiative builds on Opera’s consistent strategy of AI integration, including a prior partnership with Google Cloud for its Aria AI and support for local LLMs to enhance privacy.
It’s worth noting,that an earlier Opera browser also named Neon, launched in 2017, did not achieve widespread success. Opera Neon is also the company’s fifth browser, following the February announcement of its “Air” mindfulness-focused browser.
Competition and Early Reception
Opera Neon steps into a dynamic market where several tech companies are developing AI-driven browser functionalities. Perplexity AI, for example, is readying its AI-powered Comet browser, emphasizing AI-assisted research.
While Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas is optimistic about AI agents, he also advised skepticism about their full capabilities, saying that “anyone saying agents will work in 2025 should be skeptical.” OpenAI also entered this space with its Operator AI agent in January, a tool for ChatGPT Pro subscribers that automates online tasks by interpreting screen content.
Opera is betting big that users will pay a premium for the advanced AI agentic features of Neon, but the lack of transparent pricing at launch makes it hard to gauge market acceptance.
The push towards more powerful agentic browsers like Neon is part of a larger industry trend. Google is developing “Project Jarvis,” an AI assistant for Chrome, and started testing “Computer Use” functions in its AI Studio. However, the real-world effectiveness of such agents is still developing.
A Carnegie Mellon University study published in May 2025 found that leading AI agents often struggle with complex tasks, exhibiting “a lack of common sense, poor social skills, and incompetence in web browsing” and concluding they are “likely not a replacement for all tasks at the moment.”
