Opera is drafting in Google Gemini to help supercharge the browser’s Aria AI assistant

Generative AI models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini have been around for a while now and are slowly infiltrating various products, the latest of which is the Opera browser, which is getting AI features powered by Gemini.

Opera made an official announcement yesterday, explaining that it’s collaborating with Google Cloud to enhance its browser AI, Aria, along with its text-to-voice and image generation capabilities. Opera powers Aria using its multi-LLM (large language model) Composer AI engine.

Opera observes that Aria makes its browser unique, as the Composer AI engine doesn’t just utilize one AI or one LLM provider. The engine processes what a user would like to do while using the browser and chooses the best model for the task at hand, and Gemini is now part of the options that Opera can leverage in this way.

Opera is one of the more popular browsers, especially for one that’s not a default or pre-installed app on an operating system, and it’s been incorporating novel generative AI technology into the browser for just over a year now.

How you can try the new Aria AI for yourself

The catch here is that for now, the freshly boosted Aria AI is only available in the Opera One Developer version of the browser, which enables users to test the newest AI features and additions (including the new image generation capabilities that enlist Google’s Imagen 2 model on the Vertex AI platform).

You can download the Opera One Developer version from Opera’s website, but rather than trying a test spin of the browser, we’d recommend you wait for the Gemini integration to reach the finished version of Opera.

If you want to try an alternative to some other more popular browsers like Google Chrome, Opera is a good choice, especially as it’s based on Chromium. Chromium is Google’s open-source engine, which several popular browsers are based on, including Chrome and Edge, so you can easily import your history and bookmarks. 

Even if you don’t sign up to try the new version of Aria AI, the standard take on Opera, and Opera GX (the gaming spin), have AI-powered features already – and as mentioned, the newer Aria AI will make it into the standard browser eventually (unless it gets abandoned, which seems unlikely). Opera also offers other features that have given the browser a loyal fan base including Workspaces for file management, sidebar functionality, and a built-in VPN.

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