WithOpenClawThe rise of leading "programming agent" tools is triggering a dramatic reshuffling of the global AI agent market. According to...WIRED reportsGoogle is currently working on adjusting its Chrome browser proxy program.Project MarinerGoogle has reassigned some team members to higher-priority development projects. This not only signifies a shift in Google's focus on AI agent development, but also highlights the remarkable efficiency and commercial potential of AI tools that directly control computers via command lines, far surpassing web browser agents at this stage.
Market enthusiasm fell short of expectations, Project Mariner team restructured.
Project Mariner was one of the highlights of Google's Google I/O developer conference last year. This AI proxy tool, based on the Chrome browser, was designed to help users automate tedious web page operations, such as automatically filling out forms, comparing prices across web pages, or organizing data.
However, the actual market response has been quite lukewarm. Data shows that the market performance of these "browser proxies" has generally fallen short of expectations. Not only Google, but also competitors such as Perplexity and OpenAI have significantly lower weekly active users (WAU) than current mainstream general-purpose AI conversational tools.
Users seem to prefer getting answers directly from the dialog box rather than watching AI slowly simulate human mouse clicks on a webpage.
Efficiency Overwhelms: OpenClaw Leads the Wave of "Programming Agents"
Another key reason that led Google to quickly adjust its strategy is the recent emergence of "programming agent" tools such as OpenClaw, which have caused a major upheaval in the developer community.
Unlike browser proxies, programmatic proxies directly control the computer to perform tasks through "command lines" or low-level system APIs. This means that AI does not need to wait for web pages to load or recognize web page UI elements, and can directly process files, write code, or access system resources with extremely high computing efficiency. This high efficiency of low-level manipulation has immediately captured the attention of many companies and developers, and has also led various AI labs to shift their research and development resources to this field.
It's not about abandoning the technology: it will become nourishment for Gemini Agents.
Although the pace of independent development of Project Mariner has slowed, Google emphasizes that this does not mean abandoning the technology. The company has officially confirmed that Project Mariner's core web automation capabilities will be seamlessly integrated into flagship products such as Gemini Agent in the future.
Industry analysts believe that although programmatic proxies are far superior in terms of efficiency, browser proxies still play an irreplaceable role in certain specific scenarios (such as operating outdated enterprise internal software that lacks API interfaces, or engaging in web page interactions that heavily rely on visual typography).
In the future, these two agency models are very likely to move towards a complementary dual-track system of "lower-level instructions + surface vision"; however, how such powerful agency tools can overcome technical barriers and truly become popular for everyday use by general consumers still requires a period of market testing.
