GOOGLE SHUTS DOWN PROJECT MARINER

Project Mariner, which launched in December 2024, was designed to autonomously complete tasks across the web on behalf of users. Google had updated the feature to handle up to 10 simultaneous tasks before the shutdown. The project's landing page now displays a closure notice dated May 4, 2026, stating: "Thank you for using Project Mariner. It was shut down on May 4th, 2026 and its technology voyaged to other Google products." While Google did not provide specific details about which products would receive Mariner's technology, the shutdown suggests the company plans to repurpose the underlying capabilities rather than abandon the work entirely. The brief lifespan of the experimental feature reflects the common practice of tech companies testing new AI capabilities in limited releases before broader integration. Project Mariner represented Google's effort to advance autonomous web browsing, a capability that multiple AI companies have been exploring as large language models continue to improve.