Google is introducing a significant update for Chrome users starting today, featuring an advanced AI agent capable of independently navigating the web to execute user-directed tasks. The browser will also incorporate a sidebar integrated with Gemini artificial intelligence.
The web automation feature becomes available immediately for subscribers to Google AI Pro at $19.99 monthly or Google AI Ultra at $249.99 monthly, whereas the sidebar integration launches today for every Chrome user. This rollout follows Google's announcement yesterday of the Google AI Plus subscription at $7.99 per month, which excludes access to the automation tools.
Google views this web automation as an advancement beyond traditional autofill functions, which exist across various browsers. Autofill retains personal data such as credit card information and inserts it during relevant moments, like online transactions. In contrast, web automation accepts a specific assignment, attempts to fulfill it using Chrome's resources, and defers the ultimate approval—such as transaction confirmation—to the user.
The concept of agentic web navigation has precedents; Microsoft demonstrated an AI-assisted shopping example about a year back and introduced Copilot Mode in Edge during the previous summer. OpenAI developed a comparable tool with its Atlas agentic browser, prompting further industry adoptions. Despite these efforts, Statcounter data indicates Chrome commands roughly 65 percent of the North American desktop browser market, establishing it as the clear leader. Extending agentic functionalities to a broad audience, albeit via paid plans, represents a noteworthy development.
Users can engage the automation function similarly to interacting with Gemini AI, through a sidebar that appears by selecting the Gemini icon positioned at the browser's upper edge. This activates the panel and an input field, enabling prompts to Gemini for task initiation. According to Google, applicable tasks encompass completing PDF forms, updating driver's licenses, planning vacations, and handling activities like appointment setting and reservation arrangements. Company representatives clarified that details entered in the sidebar remain private and are not transmitted to external websites.
The updated Gemini sidebar leverages Google's term 'personal intelligence,' which incorporates recollections of previous interactions and user-provided details now integrated into AI Mode. Should permissions grant access to services such as Gmail, that data will contribute to the process as well.
A notable enhancement involves compatibility with Nano Banana, Google's image processing technology. This allows Chrome to retrieve and modify images visible in the browser, regardless of ownership status. Officials from Google were unable to confirm the presence of safeguards against copyright infringement or if users could directly instruct the system to alter any displayed image.
Currently, the web automation is limited to premium subscribers, though expansion to lower-cost options seems probable if adoption grows favorably.
Mark has contributed to PCWorld over the past ten years, drawing on three decades of expertise in technology reporting. He has produced more than 3,500 pieces for PCWorld, focusing on areas like PC processors, accessories, and Windows operating systems. His work has appeared in outlets such as PC Magazine, Byte, eWEEK, Popular Science, and Electronic Buyers' News, earning him a shared Jesse H. Neal Award for timely news coverage. Lately, he donated a large assortment of Thunderbolt docks and USB-C hubs due to space constraints in his workspace.