‘Agent Smith’ has entered Googleplex, and it is reportedly so popular that the company has restricted it
Google employees have a new favourite assistant called “Agent Smith”. It is an internal AI tool namer after the antagonist from the movie The Matrix, as reported by Business Insider. Launched earlier this year, the tool is designed to automate tasks such as coding and interact with various internal systems. Unlike the traditional assistants, Smith works asynchronously in the background, meaning employees can give it instructions via their phones and check progress later without keeping their laptops active.The Business Insider report reveals that Smith became so popular inside Googleplex that the company had to restrict access in order to manage the increasing usage. For some engineers, the tool is already proving invaluable, helping streamline workflows at a time when Google is aggressively pushing AI adoption across the company.
A bigger AI push at Google
In a recent town hall, Google co-founder Sergey Brin told the employees that AI agents will plat an important role at Google this year. Business chief Philipp Schindler even joked that he could tell when Brin’s agent was replying to messages on his behalf. CEO Sundar Pichai has also emphasized that employees are expected — not just encouraged — to use AI tools, with adoption in some cases tied to performance reviews.
How Agent Smith stands out as compared to other agents
While Google has experimented with AI coding assistants before, Smith is unique in its ability to plan and execute workflows autonomously. It can access employee profiles to pull up documents and is integrated directly into Google’s internal chat platform, making it more accessible than earlier tools.
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The rise of Agent Smith reflects a broader industry trend. Tech leaders, including Mark Zuckerberg at Meta, are building their own AI agents to boost productivity. Google’s internal initiative Project EAT is also working to standardize AI adoption across teams, underscoring how central AI agents are becoming to corporate workflows.
