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Opera's WebAI proposal could let websites and browser extensions run AI models on users' devices. The shift could reduce reliance on cloud-based processing
Opera’s WebAI proposal explores how websites and browser extensions could access AI models running on users’ devices (AI-generated image)
Harsh Shivam New Delhi 7 min read Last Updated : Oct 29 2026 | 4:31 PM IST
Opera on October 27 introduced WebAI, an early-preview implementation of a proposed web standard that would allow websites and browser extensions to access AI models running on a user’s device. The approach supports models such as Google’s Gemma and Apple’s on-device foundation model on Mac computers.
The development adds to efforts by browser makers, including Google and Mozilla, to make AI available to web applications without requiring every request to be processed by a remote server. If adopted across browsers, such interfaces could allow developers to add features such as text summarisation, translation, text generation and semantic search without building separate implementations for different operating systems.
The proposal also raises questions about how browsers would manage AI models, allocate device resources and control access by websites. ALSO READ: Unreleased Claude model found attack chains in Chrome, Safari: Anthropic
WebAI is an early implementation of a proposed interface through which websites and browser extensions can use AI models installed on a user’s device. Opera’s approach is based on the idea that web applications should be able to access local AI capabilities through a browser-managed interface.
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