Opera is widening its AI ambitions by rolling out Gemini-powered features across Opera Neon, Opera One, and Opera GX, extending its partnership with Google and bringing new tools to more than 80 million users. After positioning Neon as its experimental, AI-forward browser, Opera is now porting many of those capabilities to its mainstream products, aiming to blur the line between traditional browsing and AI-assisted workflows.
Central to the update is a new Gemini-driven side panel that can summarize pages, compare tabs, and analyze files, images, and videos based on whatever users are viewing. This is the same system that debuted in Opera Neon, but Opera says it has rebuilt the engine for speed using an agentic architecture borrowed from that browser. As a result, responses are said to be roughly 20% faster, with support for both voice input and voice output. The AI panel also extends file analysis to multiple formats, which Opera frames as a way to bring contextual intelligence directly into the browsing session rather than forcing users into external apps or chatbots.
The company is also pointing to clearer privacy controls, giving users explicit settings to decide what information is shared with the AI and what stays local. For browser makers competing in a market increasingly dominated by AI integrations, privacy settings have become a key differentiator, especially for users who want AI tools but are skeptical about opaque data pipelines.
Opera’s EVP Commercial, Per Wetterdal, framed the updates as part of a broader shift in how people interact with the web. According to him, the browser is becoming a natural access point for AI assistance, and the Google partnership allows Opera to offer these capabilities natively and without additional cost to users of Opera One and Opera GX. Meanwhile, Opera Neon continues as the company’s testbed for more advanced features, including early access to Gemini 3 Pro.
By distributing these tools across its major browsers, Opera is aiming to position itself as an AI-first challenger in a category where innovation often gets overshadowed by platform giants. Whether these additions become essential browsing features or simply optional conveniences will depend on how seamlessly they slot into users’ daily habits — but the company clearly sees AI as the next big battleground for differentiation.
