Google has terminated Project Mariner, the AI agent designed to navigate the web in a human-like manner.

      The autonomous browser agent that Google unveiled at I/O 2025 has now evolved. Its technology is being integrated into the Gemini API and the Gemini Agent.

      Google has terminated Project Mariner, the autonomous web browsing agent it introduced at last year’s I/O. This tool, capable of navigating Chrome, completing forms, searching listings, and booking travel by taking screenshots and recognizing visual elements on pages, is no longer available. Its landing page now displays a notice stating that the shutdown date is May 4, 2026.

      Project Mariner aimed to develop an AI agent that mimicked human interaction with websites. Instead of reading data directly from pages, it interpreted screenshots in real-time to locate buttons, text fields, and links, executing clicks and typing for users. This method allowed it to manage multi-step tasks across different sites without needing special website integration.

      However, this approach came with performance drawbacks. The extensive visual processing required substantial computing power, and the method was liable to mistakes, like mistakenly selecting the wrong option on a page. Additionally, it raised privacy concerns, as it required constant access to whatever was displayed in a user's browser at any moment.

      Signs of issues began to appear in March when Wired reported that Google had started shifting personnel away from the Project Mariner team, indicating waning internal support well before the public announcement of the shutdown.

      Despite the shutdown, Google claims that Mariner's technology has “moved to other Google products.” Its main features will reportedly be incorporated into the Gemini API and the new Gemini Agent instead of being completely discontinued.

      This shutdown reflects a broader trend in the industry toward developing agentic AI. Tools that function at the file and code level, rather than relying on visual browsing, have become the prevailing model. They are faster, less expensive to operate, and better equipped to manage more complicated, multi-step tasks. Mariner’s screenshot-based method, while innovative at its inception, found itself competing against a more advanced architecture.

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      Pranob is an experienced tech journalist with over eight years of experience in consumer technology coverage.

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