Google’s Web-Browsing AI, Jarvis, Officially Renamed to Project Mariner

Google unveils Project Mariner, an AI agent for web browsing, previously known as Jarvis, showcasing its ability to automate tasks within a browser.

So, Google just dropped Gemini 2.0 today, and it’s not just your average update—it’s packing some serious upgrades and fresh features, all thanks to this new model. Among the cool stuff? Project Mariner. Imagine an AI that can actually surf the web for you. Yeah, it’s a Chrome extension right now, but only a lucky few get to play with it. In one demo, it helped someone dig up contact details for four outdoor companies. Took its sweet time—12 minutes—but hey, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Google’s calling it a ‘research prototype’ that gets the gist of everything in your browser, from text and images to forms and even code.

If Mariner rings a bell, that’s because it was once known as Project Jarvis, as The Information spilled the beans back in October. Jarvis was this ‘computer-using agent’ meant to handle stuff like booking flights. It made a cameo on the Chrome Web Store in November before ghosting us. Turns out, Jarvis and Mariner are the same gig. And just when you thought it couldn’t get more interesting, Anthropic rolls out something similar for Claude AI, already in public beta. Talk about timing.