Project Mariner
Google DeepMind's browser-agent prototype, shut down 4 May 2026
Overview
Project Mariner was a Google DeepMind research prototype that operated a web browser to complete multi-step tasks with Gemini. Google shut it down on 4 May 2026; its landing page now points users to Gemini Spark, and its capabilities continue in AI Mode and computer use in the Gemini API.
Pricing
Pricing shown for reference only. These figures reflect RECATOOLS research as of 12 Oct 2026 and may be out of date or incomplete. This is not financial or purchasing advice — always confirm the current price on the provider’s official website before making any decision.
Use cases
What you can produce with Project Mariner
- Historical: multi-step web errands handed to an agent that navigated, clicked and typed in a browser
- Historical: up to ten tasks at once on cloud virtual machines
- Historical: teach-and-repeat for recorded workflows
- Historical: a visible plan and reasoning as the agent worked
- Today: Gemini Spark, the successor the shutdown notice names (AI Pro and Ultra, select countries)
- Today: computer use in the Gemini API, where Google said Mariner's capabilities were going
Project Mariner was Google DeepMind's research prototype for an agent that drives a web browser, and Google shut it down on 4 May 2026. There is nothing left to sign up for: the Labs page carries only a notice pointing to Gemini Spark.
It mattered as an early public test of browser agents, running tasks on cloud machines and repeating workflows it had been shown, though testers found it slow and prone to stalling. Readers in Southeast Asia should check whether Gemini Spark is offered in their country under a Google AI Pro or Ultra plan.
What we found
Project Mariner no longer exists. Its landing page at labs.google.com says it was shut down on 4 May 2026 and that its technology moved to other Google products, and points visitors to Gemini Spark. The DeepMind page this directory used to link now redirects to the DeepMind homepage. Wired first reported the closure, and The Verge confirmed the notice on 7 May.
Mariner was a Google DeepMind research prototype unveiled in December 2024 alongside Gemini 2.0. Early testers set it up as a Chrome extension: it read what was on screen, planned the steps and clicked and typed on the user's behalf, and the user could stop it and take over at any point. A TechCrunch demo showed about five seconds of delay between cursor movements. At I/O in May 2025 Google moved it onto cloud virtual machines, let it run up to ten tasks at once, added a teach-and-repeat mode for recorded workflows, and opened it to US subscribers of the new $249.99-a-month AI Ultra plan. Earlier versions of this page said it had been free.
Hands-on reviews were mixed. A DataCamp reviewer found it could locate a plumber and fill in a booking form, pausing to ask for a name and email address, but it looped on a flight booking, was blocked by Cloudflare on one site, and was slow enough that the reviewer sped up the demo videos.
Where the work went is only partly documented. Google said in 2025 that it was bringing Mariner's computer-use capabilities into the Gemini API, and The Verge reports Mariner-powered features in Gemini's agent and in AI Mode in Search. Chrome's auto browse, launched in January 2026, is often credited to Mariner, but Google has not said so. The notice's own pick, Gemini Spark, is a background agent for Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in select countries; anyone wanting Mariner's job done today should evaluate Spark, AI Mode or the Gemini API.
Compiled by RECATOOLS from public sources: vendor documentation and pricing, code repositories and published reporting.
About this listing
This entry was compiled from publicly available data including Project Mariner's official website, press releases, documentation, and reputable third-party publications. RECATOOLS is not affiliated with Project Mariner unless explicitly stated.
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