Project Mariner is dead, but Google's browser-controlling AI plans are not

Google shut down Project Mariner on May 4, 2026, a browser-controlling AI agent launched in December 2024 that could shop, search, and complete multi-step web tasks automatically. Rather than a failure, it's more of a pivot — Mariner's technology has been folded into Gemini Agent and other Google products. Consumer browser agents have struggled with slow performance and limited adoption, pushing Google toward building a faster, more competitive tool.