Mozilla announced support for WebGPU and the WebGPU Shader Language (WGSL) in Firefox. WebGPU support will be enabled by default in the Firefox 141 release for Windows on July 22, with plans to extend support to Linux, MacOS, and Android platforms in the coming months. Users can manually enable WebGPU by using specific parameters in ABOUT: Config.
Google Chrome introduced default WebGPU support in version 113 in May 2023, while Safari is expected to enable default support this fall. Firefox has had experimental WebGPU support since 2020, which was enabled by default in the Nightly version. The implementation in Firefox is based on the wgpu project code, written in Rust and compatible with Direct3D 12, Vulkan, OpenGL, and Metal.
WebGPU, akin to Vulkan, Metal, and Direct3D 12, offers a program interface for GPU operations and shader usage for GPU-side programs. It differs from WebGL similar to how Vulkan differs from OpenGL, serving as a universal layer with low-level primitives from various graphic APIs like Vulkan, Metal, and Direct3D.
WebGPU enables control over organizing, processing, and delivering commands to the GPU, managing resources, memory, buffers, textures, and compiled graphic shaders. This approach enhances graphic application performance by reducing overhead and boosting GPU efficiency.
WebGPU allows the creation of complex 3D projects with performance comparable to standalone programs using Vulkan, Metal, or Direct3D, along with the ability to port native graphic programs to web browsers through WebAssembly compilation. It also supports GPU-side calculations and shader execution in addition to 3D graphics.