Google is changing the way its users experience the internet. They are building a new generation of AI agents to augment search and improve overall browsing. During a recent investor day, CEO Sundar Pichai and other execs pitched their electrifying vision for an “agentic web.” This groundbreaking technology enables smart agents to perform a multitude of tasks on behalf of users, from summarizing information to streamlining experiences on e-commerce websites. This accomplishment is a tremendous victory for what it means to access and process information online.
In a wonderful in-depth analysis over on Stratechery, Ben Thompson lauded the as-yet unrealized promise of the agentic web. He acknowledged the different obstacles and inequities that must be addressed. His perspectives illuminate the political realities that make it so difficult to implement even the most exciting and transformative technology.
For Microsoft’s Chief Technology Officer, Kevin Scott, this is the dream of an open agentic web. He suggests that instead, digital agents need to work seamlessly across the internet, and that they should do more than just retrieval. Scott thinks through this kind of innovation users will be able to multitask with ease. At the same time, these agents manage multiple everyday business activities online. “Human attention is the only truly finite resource,” noted a Google communications leader, emphasizing the importance of optimizing users’ time and focus through automated assistance.
The big news from last year was that Google brought AI summaries into the main Search function of Google. But those efforts were largely drowned out by the ensuing chaos upon discovery of “hallucinations,” instances in which the AI generated false or misleading content. The recent demonstration was clearly intended to fill these gaps and recapture the high level of Google’s commitment to fixing what’s broken in user experience.
The new AI agents can handle up to ten unique tasks at a time – at least! They can freely browse different websites, open different web pages, follow hyperlinks and draw useful information from content they find on pages. This ability supercharges Google’s age-old practice of serving up algorithmically-chosen links for search queries. This service has existed for almost twenty years.
Constructing this agentic web rests on having an infrastructure of high quality to begin with. This infrastructure serves to connect the agents to each other and to significant data and information sources. To make this connectivity happen, Google has created its own Agent2Agent protocol, and Anthropic has introduced its own Model Composition Protocol (MCP). This “digital plumbing” will be necessary to create a federated network of AI agents that can seamlessly collaborate without friction.
During the presentation, Pichai noted that this new approach allows hundreds of millions of users to engage with an AI agent through a simple interface, offering them unprecedented access to information. These personal agents will browse the web and write up content in summary fashion. They’ll enrich the user experience by giving personalized recommendations and by streamlining shopping through checkout. Liz Reid, Google’s VP of Search, illustrated her enthusiasm for this effort. She continued, “We couldn’t be more excited about this next chapter of Google search where you can really just ask anything […] your easiest and your toughest questions, your most advanced research, your most customized shopping.”
The enthusiasm around all these movements is electric. It’s still an open question how well AI models will be able to provide accurate context on a regular basis. Even DeepMind’s CEO, Demis Hassabis, has expressed alarm over what’s become of these technologies. He closed with a strong statement about making constant, incremental improvements in order to earn and retain user trust.
As Google integrates AI-powered shopping features into its offerings, it aims to simplify product discovery and enhance the overall purchasing experience for consumers. By allowing its AI agents to navigate complex online environments on behalf of users, Google hopes to position itself at the forefront of technological innovation in the digital realm.
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