Opera previews local AI in Opera One, adds HTMLinCanvas

Opera has introduced an early preview of WebAI in its Opera One browser, giving websites and extensions access to artificial-intelligence models running on users’ devices. The company also announced HTMLinCanvas, a feature for embedding interactive webpages in two-dimensional and three-dimensional scenes. WebAI is a proposed web standard that Opera says can support text generation, content classification and identifying relationships between data. At launch, the browser can use Google’s Gemma model and, on compatible Macs, Apple’s on-device foundation model. Opera says Opera GX and Opera Neon are expected to receive the feature later. Opera describes WebAI as opt-in, with users able to control which websites may access local models. The company says processing takes place on the user’s device, and that developers can add AI features without operating cloud infrastructure or paying fees for each request. These privacy and cost claims are part of Opera’s product description; the rollout has not been independently tested in the reports. Opera’s initial preview is aimed at 64-bit Windows computers and Macs with Apple silicon. The company says possible uses include organizing...