Firefox's AI form filler sends your tab content to Gemini, while Opera's WebAI runs models on your device. Know which one your team uses

Browser makers shipped two AI features this week that look similar to users but handle client data very differently.

What happened

Mozilla updated Smart Window, the AI browsing mode in Firefox, according to The Verge. In a form with at least four text fields, a "Fill from sources" option suggests answers based on open tabs you select. Mozilla notes that data from those source pages is shared with Google's Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite, which generates the suggestions. A new /watch task checks chosen pages daily or weekly for changes like sales or job listings, but only while the browser is open, and it stops after 90 days without a match. Both features are in the Smart Window beta on desktop in the US and Canada.

Separately, TechCrunch reports that Opera introduced WebAI, a standard that lets AI models run directly in the browser without the cloud. It supports open-weight models such as Google's Gemma and, on Macs, Apple's on-device model. It is an opt-in early preview in Opera One. Opera says developers can add AI features without paying for every request and that the data stays on the user's device, with performance depending on hardware.

My take

For teams, the question is not which browser is smarter. It is where the text goes. A virtual assistant who uses a cloud form filler on a CRM or a client portal may be sending whatever is in those selected tabs to a third party model. A local model keeps it on the laptop. Both are fine for some work and wrong for other work, and most small teams have no rule either way.

The /watch feature is also a good example of when a browser tool is not an automation. It runs only while the browser is open and expires on its own. That is fine for one person tracking a price. For anything a business depends on, like competitor pricing or new tender listings, build a scheduled workflow on a server that logs each check and alerts the right person.

Write a one page rule for your team: which AI tools may see client data, and which tasks need a real workflow.