Opera’s Browser Operator: a first universal AI application?
Chances are, when you first heard of artificial intelligence as a real thing, your ideas of its application were not unlike having a personal assistant that takes the load of everyday chores off your shoulders. Chores not physical, of course: washing dishes and doing laundry is still beyond the reach of AI systems in their present shape, with the exception of a few experimental robots that still stumble across factory floors, not being mass-produced. But expecting some aid from LLMs in the virtual realm was justified.
Many of those involved in creative activities — copywriting, programming, visual design, etc. — did feel the advent of the age of AI, which streamlined their processes considerably, taking on tedious parts of tasks. Researchers, medical professionals, too, with artificial intelligence helping them to crunch numbers and analyze myriads of combinations of inputs, as well as diagnosing diseases with sufficient accuracy. The rest of us, though, were somewhat disappointed: while AI apps are all the rage (here’s the example of DeepSeek), most people use them as a source of information they can query in a natural way, but there’s no real automation involved.
Opera wants to (finally) change that: on March 3, 2025, the company published a post to its blog giving us Browser Operator, and presented it at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
So what is Opera’s Browser Operator and what can it do?
First things first: as of this writing, the feature is still in the preview mode, which means it is being tested. Opera has not yet announced a specific date when Browser Operator will be fully integrated into its flagship product and made available to all users. Stay tuned to this Informer’s outlet and/or subscribe to Opera’s blog to be among the first to learn of the launch.
So far, the company claims Browser Operator will automate tasks like shopping, hotel reservations, ticket booking, grocery ordering, etc. It is expected to understand your instructions given in plain language, and execute accordingly. This set of jobs resembles what voice assistants like Siri and Alexa can do for you, but since everything is happening in a browser, the Operator will presumably be capable of running multi-step errands.
This is something slightly different: imagine having to book a flight that’s already sold out, and simply telling the Browser Operator to monitor ticket availability and purchase one immediately if someone returns it. Or letting it buy cat food, or socks, as in the example given in the Opera’s post about this feature — i.e., do some of those repeating chores mentioned in the intro that you tend to forget about. And, as opposed to reminders voice assistants are capable of, Browser Operator will, hopefully, see the entire task to completion, not just let you know it should be on your to-do list.
So far, Opera’s Browser Operator looks like a valid attempt at finally making AI universally useful for most users, evolving it from a toy or an aide in specific niches. As of this writing, nothing of the kind has been announced by any other major browser maker, although all players do have artificial intelligence embedded in their products to this or that degree. Stay tuned for updates on this topic, and if you need your Opera Browser right now, here’s where to get it:
