Employees at Google are now utilizing AI agents to automate activities while using their phones.

Something intriguing is taking place inside Google. For some workers, working is no longer limited to spending the entire day in front of a laptop. An AI agent is quietly handling tasks in the background, and users may monitor them with just their phones. 

According to information provided by sources, the tool, known as “Agent Smith,” is rapidly gaining traction within the organization. Although AI has already been used by Google for coding and other jobs, this one is more advanced. The AI agent can take a task, work on it independently, and notify the user later rather than waiting for instructions at every stage.

Agent Smith’s greatest strength is its ability to function autonomously, even if it is built to tackle activities like coding. Workers can give it tasks and allow it to operate in the background. Keeping a laptop open is not necessary. When necessary, they can simply use their phones to provide fresh instructions or monitor progress.

The system expands upon Google’s previous Antigravity platform. However, this instrument is more capable of managing the process independently than previous ones. Additionally, it may connect to various internal systems and retrieve data or documents that staff members would often have to look up by hand. This basically means that Google employees are spending more time concentrating on what really needs their attention and less time switching between tools.

But the tool has caught on quickly. According to people familiar with it, a large number of employees started using Agent Smith soon after it became available. The demand grew so fast that Google had to restrict access for a while to manage the load.

For engineers, it is reportedly making daily work easier. Tasks that used to take longer can now be handled faster with the help of the agent. And since it works quietly in the background, it doesn’t interrupt the flow of work. The name itself is a clear reference to the villain from The Matrix, which feels fitting for a system that operates almost invisibly across workflows.

The increasing use of these tools is not coincidental. Google executives have been encouraging teams to make greater use of AI.  AI agents will play a significant role in the company’s goals this year, co-founder Sergey Brin recently said staff at a town hall. Additionally, he implied that more of these tools are being developed.

Additionally, CEO Sundar Pichai has made it clear that utilizing AI is now required. Workers from all teams have been asked to incorporate AI into their everyday tasks. In certain instances, performance appraisals will even take into account how much they employ these AI tools. According to reports, this also applies to non-technical employees. In fact, the business even informed staff members of Google’s voluntary leave policy for those who aren’t prepared to adopt AI.

“We are 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,” a Google representative told Business Insider in response to a question regarding Agent Smith.