According to Windows Report | Error-free Tech Life, Opera has kicked off December 2024 with massive AI upgrades for its entire browser lineup, including Opera One, Opera GX, and Opera Neon, reaching over 80 million users. This is powered by a new partnership with Google to integrate the latest Gemini models directly into the browsers. The company claims the new AI offers 20% faster responses and can pull context from all open tabs for summaries and comparisons. Privacy controls have been boosted, letting users choose exactly what browsing context the AI can access. The announcement follows recently shared figures showing a 17% year-over-year jump in Opera’s search revenue, which the company links to rising AI tool usage. Per Wetterdal, EVP Commercial at Opera, stated that the browser is the natural entry point for these AI experiences.
The Business Behind the Browser Bot
Here’s the thing: this isn’t just a feature drop. It’s a core revenue strategy. Opera is seeing real money from user-initiated actions in its AI tools, and this Gemini integration is basically doubling down on that bet. They’re not just adding a chatbot; they’re weaving AI into the fabric of browsing to make it the default way people search and discover. Think about it. If their AI can help you find a product or compare services faster, you’re less likely to jump over to a pure search engine. That keeps you—and the potential ad revenue—inside Opera’s ecosystem.
Why Gemini, and Why Now?
The timing is pretty sharp. The AI browser assistant race is heating up, with everyone from Microsoft (Copilot in Edge) to smaller players trying to figure it out. Partnering with Google gives Opera instant credibility and access to some of the most advanced large language models out there, specifically the Gemini 3 Pro for its “agentic” Opera Neon browser. For Google, it’s a clever way to get its AI models in front of tens of millions of users without having to push its own Chrome browser harder. It’s a symbiotic play. Opera gets the tech muscle, Google gets the distribution.
The Privacy Paradox
I find the enhanced privacy controls particularly interesting, and maybe a bit of a necessary concession. An AI that reads all your open tabs is incredibly powerful, but also kinda creepy, right? So, giving users a granular toggle for what the AI can “see” is smart. It addresses the elephant in the room head-on. But let’s be real—how many people will actually tweak those settings versus just clicking “accept all”? The promise of speed and convenience usually wins. Still, offering the choice is a good move, especially for a company that’s historically leaned into privacy as a selling point.
Beyond the Hype
So, will this actually change how people browse? A 20% speed claim is nice, but the real test is usefulness. Can this AI side panel become something you genuinely rely on, or does it end up as another ignored icon? Opera’s betting that context is king. If it can seamlessly summarize a dense article or compare specs between two products in different tabs, that’s a legit time-saver. The integration of voice I/O and file analysis suggests they’re aiming for a truly multimodal assistant. It’s a bold vision. Now they just have to get 80 million people to use it.
