Browser agents are losing ground to coding tools - and Google is pivoting. According to Wired, Google is restructuring the team behind Project Mariner, its AI agent for the Chrome browser. Some employees have been moved to higher-priority projects. Google confirmed the changes but stressed that the expertise developed will feed into other products, including the Gemini Agent announced last year.

The broader industry is shifting toward agent systems like OpenClaw and command-line tools like Claude Code, while browser agents struggle to gain traction. OpenAI is effectively walking away from its browser-based "ChatGPT Agent" as well. The product launched with four million weekly active paying users but dropped below one million within a few months. OpenAI is now focusing on specialized solutions like a shopping agent instead. Anthropic, meanwhile, is already building out its coding agents to serve as future all-purpose assistants.

Google has expanded the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) with shopping cart, catalog, and identity features to make online shopping easier for AI agents. The shopping cart function lets AI agents add multiple items to a store's cart at once. A new catalog feature gives agents access to real-time product data - including prices, variants, and availability - pulled directly from the retailer. An identity link lets logged-in shoppers on UCP platforms keep the same loyalty and membership benefits they'd get shopping directly with the retailer.

Google plans to integrate UCP into AI Mode in Search and the Gemini app, and the Merchant Center will make it easier for smaller merchants to connect in the future. Partners like Commerce Inc, Salesforce, and Stripe are planning to support UCP on their platforms. Google first introduced UCP earlier this year alongside Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target, Walmart, and more than 20 other companies including Visa and Zalando as an open standard for AI-powered shopping.