Google pulls back on browser AI as the industry bets on coding tools

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.