Google employees have a new AI tool called ‘Agent Smith’. It’s so popular that access got restricted. – Business Insider

It doesn’t have a trench coat, it doesn’t need a nap pod, and it doesn’t have stock options (yet) — but Agent Smith has entered the Googleplex.

Google employees are using a new internal AI tool called “Agent Smith” that can automate tasks such as coding, according to three people familiar with it.

Smith has become so popular that access had to be restricted to handle the influx of employees using it, two people said.

Smith — likely a reference to the antagonist from The Matrix — builds on Google’s existing agentic coding platform, Antigravity, and can interact with various internal tools. It works asynchronously — or on its own in the background without an active laptop — and employees can check in with it and give it instructions using their phones. Smith launched earlier this year, one of the people said.

For some software engineers, it’s already proving to be a big help, one person said, at a time when the company is aggressively adopting AI to boost efficiency. Leaders at Google and across the tech industry see agents as a way to make the next big leap in productivity.

Google cofounder Sergey Brin told Google employees in a recent town hall that agents will play a big role at Google this year, a person who was present said. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is building his own to help him run the company, The Wall Street Journal reported.

When asked about Agent Smith and the company’s broader vision for AI agents, a Google spokesperson told Business Insider, “We’re always experimenting with new ways to build agents that solve real-world problems for people and businesses, but we don’t have anything to share right now.”

Smith isn’t the first AI coding assistant at Google, though the tool can plan and execute more of the workflow autonomously, according to two employees familiar with it. Because it has access to Googlers’ profiles, it can pull up certain documents they would otherwise need to access manually.

Smith is also unique in that it can be used from Google employees’ internal chat platform, two employees said.

Google cofounder Sergey Brin says agents are coming

Brin made an appearance during a town hall for sales employees in early March, where he spoke about AI agents, according to someone who attended.

Brin, who has been back in the trenches at Google since 2023, emphasized how important AI agents were becoming and said they would be a big focus for Google this year. He hinted that the company was developing a tool similar to OpenClaw, the person who attended said. It could not be learned whether Brin was referring to Agent Smith or something else.

During the meeting, Google’s business chief, Philipp Schindler, joked that he could tell when Brin’s agent was responding to messages on his behalf.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai dials up AI use

Google leaders have dialed up the pressure on employees to use AI.

Some Google engineers were told last year that they were expected to be using AI tools for coding. In recent months, some Googlers in non-technical roles told Business Insider they had also been told that using AI was no longer encouraged, but expected.

In some cases, Googlers have been told that their adoption of AI will be factored into performance reviews.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai told employees last year that it was important they adopt AI internally because competitors would do the same.

Some efforts to adopt AI tools come from the bottom up. Employees in Google’s infrastructure organization are running another internal initiative called Project EAT to improve how AI tools are adopted and standardized across the company, Business Insider previously reported.

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