The trick to understanding Opera’s Neon browser is recognizing that it’s not just a browser with an AI bot, but a browser with three AI bots all residing in it. This is both a strength and a weakness, because while you don’t have to leave to do all the AI stuff you want, knowing where to go for AI tasks can get really confusing.
Opera began moving people off the waitlist for its AI browser, Neon, last month. It’s entering an increasingly crowded market of AI-powered browsers that include Google’s Gemini-influenced Chrome, Plexity’s Comet, and browser company DIA. Unlike many of their competitors, Opera in a month. 19.90, which sets the bar high for a product that most people get for free.
Neon has a similar setup with other Opera browsers. It has features like a built-in ad blocker and VPN, and a sidebar you can power up with apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. AI features are placed front and center on the home and new tab screens. Under the search bar is a toggle with four settings: a regular internet search; A chatbot called Chat; An agent called an agent controls the browser. and an AI building agent named Mac. .
Chat is the most straightforward feature, an in-browser AI assistant that will probably be familiar to users of any AI chatbot by now. It can be accessed at the start of a search query but also resides in the upper right corner of the browser for access at any time. Chat easily handled our quick research questions and could answer questions specific to the page we were browsing, such as our request for an abstract on the latest research in quantum computing. But it wasn’t perfect. The chat responses were so verbose that it felt like we had to do real work to get through them. When asked to describe the chat and summarize the comments of the five most recent Verge Stories, he responded with about 400 words to tell us that there were none.
It was this exercise that showed us that Chat couldn’t always read the Internet, but it gave the impression that it absolutely could. Another time when he said there were zero comments on all three Verge Stories when there were actually four. We found it odd that the chat instead offered an idea of what “early comments on tech news sites” often consist of.
“The bot failed because we chose the wrong tool,” said Christine Colondra, Opera’s executive vice president for browsers. Chet notes successfully Verge Colondra said that when Oprah tried it, the subjects. However, the comments section on the web page needs to be expanded to summarize the comments, which requires a click. Instead, we should have sent our queries to AI Agent Doo, Chat’s more functional cousin that takes over the browser and completes the tasks for you.
We tried to catch up on tasks: book a CrossFit class, book a massage at a nearby spa for under $50, and find PDFs of baby romper sewing patterns. While working, we can’t go back to chat within the same window if we want to ask follow-up questions about the work. There’s also no way to course correct while it’s in progress. We watched in horror as the bot scrolled past perfectly good flower arrangements we’d found our friend only to add a monstrously fun wreath to her basket, even as we clicked on better options. Another time, Dow announced that there were no theater tickets for a January show when a cursory check showed many. It’s hard to trust anything after such flawless but misplaced trust.
As with other AI browsers, working with DO was slower than doing it yourself, though it did hint at how outsourcing the general infamy of web surfing might seem. And using doesn’t mean you can check completely right now. Sometimes he has to face obstacles that only a human can handle. When this happens, the Do tab at the top of the screen glows in an easily missable shade of red, letting us know we need to step in its path and help the bot.
Apart from Chat and Do, there is also AI Agent Mac, which can create little web tools for you. Create exists in a virtual computer where it downloads the required software, scripts, or, in our case, images for your creation without cluttering up your personal computer. We asked for a simple memory matching game with introductory Spanish words. It worked, and within minutes we were coming across a picture of a book with the word “libro.” The game was complicated, but it was easy to close the tab and find that all the pictures in the book disappeared with it.
The final selling point for Opera’s Neon is the card, which effectively makes predictions that can be used on any of the AI agents that Opera says act like “power-ups” for your AI interactions. Cards could, in theory, save us from writing hints, but at the moment, it’s hard to see why the option to reuse a set of instructions is needed. The app store-like interface is largely filled with content from the Neon team, with a gimmicky gesture that rewrites sites as if spoken by Yoda in a more serious gesture for news aggregators. Opera hopes that the platform will fill with useful user creations as more people use the platform, but today there is very little.
At times, using Neon felt a bit like working with a no-nonsense intern we never asked for, rather than cutting edge, pieces of technology. Often, one of his AI systems would ask for feedback, then launch into a task without waiting for a response. Given the ability to use a browser, it’s easy to imagine where this activity could go terribly wrong, like sending loads of LinkedIn requests to people you only wanted to stalk anonymously in a professional capacity. Once, we replied that he thought everything was great and to move on. , and Neon said, “I’m glad you think so!” And immediately. Stopped working. Colondra told us that Neon will stop for requested feedback in the future, but that the feature has been disabled because it’s not ready yet.
Kolendra admits that Neon is still a work in progress. “Generally speaking, Opera Neon is in an Early Access release phase, and is available to those who want to participate in the product’s development journey,” Colundra said. Verge.
But Neon is also a paid subscription product, demanding $20 per month, for something that’s largely available for free. Right now, it’s a tough sell — especially because Neon feels like an AI browser that we need to adapt to versus a browser that’s smart enough to adapt to us.
