AI features are spreading across every digital aspect of our lives at breakneck speed. Google integrates Gemini into Chrome for page summaries and cross-tab navigation. Microsoft pushes Edge as an AI browser with screen-scanning capabilities.
Yet Vivaldi stands out among its peers in the web browser space by actively resisting adding any artificial intelligence doodads into their core browsing experience.
In a recent blog, CEO of Vivaldi, Jon von Tetzchner, made the company's position crystal clear about AI features. He outlined why they will not follow competitors in adding chatbots or automated browsing tools.
AI Assistants Promote Inactive Spectatorship
Jon argues that AI assistants transform active browsing into passive consumption. You can think of this as being similar to how many of us consume short-form content (e.g., Reels or TikToks).
The company refuses to add LLM-powered chatbots, summarization tools, or automated form-filling until better implementation methods emerge and instead wants to cater to people who are curious and prefer autonomy over algroithmic thought control.
He also adds that:
We’re taking a stand, choosing humans over hype, and we will not turn the joy of exploring into inactive spectatorship. Without exploration, the web becomes far less interesting. Our curiosity loses oxygen and the diversity of the web dies.
If you ask my opinion on this, I agree with Vivaldi's stance on this. Big Tech companies and countless smaller organizations have spent years bulldozing ahead with whatever features serve their bottom line, rarely pausing to understand what users genuinely need.
This "integrate AI into everything" hype feels like an all too familiar pattern—another solution searching for a problem, driven more by investor expectations and competitive pressure than by genuine user benefit.
💬 What's your take? Are you tired of AI being shoved into every app and service?
