Google tests AI agent Remy as 24/7 personal assistant to rival OpenClaw and Meta's Hatch

Google is working on a "24/7 personal agent" that sounds a lot like its answer to OpenClaw

Google is building a personal AI agent called Remy inside its Gemini app. Google doesn't have a fully autonomous AI agent yet, but it's working on one. According to Business Insider, which reviewed an internal document, the company is developing an AI agent codenamed Remy. It is currently being tested by employees inside a staff-only version of the Gemini app. Remy is described as a "24/7 personal agent for work, school, and daily life" that can take actions on your behalf, monitor things that matter to you, handle complex tasks proactively, and learn your preferences over time. Google has declined to comment right now, and no public launch timeline has been confirmed. OpenClaw went viral, and now Google wants a piece of that market OpenClaw is the free open-source AI agent that took the tech world by surprise earlier this year, racking up over 100,000 GitHub stars in under a week. It can respond to messages, conduct research, manage files, and automate tasks across your computer without any input from you. Recommended Videos It became so popular that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called it "definitely the next ChatGPT." In fact, the appetite for OpenClaw was strong enough to push secondhand MacBook prices up by 15% in China. OpenAI ultimately hired OpenClaw's creator. Now, Remy sounds like Google's attempt to build something with similar ambitions but as a polished, integrated product. Every major player is now in the AI agent race Google's Remy project is a confirmation that the AI agent space is now a full-on race. Anthropic launched Claude Cowork, which can handle your PC tasks without the complex setup OpenClaw requires. Meta acquired Manus AI and launched My Computer, a desktop agent that sorts files, runs apps, and sends emails on your behalf. Meanwhile, Nvidia is building NemoClaw, an open-source platform that lets businesses deploy autonomous AI agents regardless of hardware. Although OpenClaw itself has faced serious security scrutiny, with researchers warning of exposed admin panels, prompt injection risks, and credentials stored in plain text. We can expect Google's version to be a deeply integrated, privacy-conscious agent from a trusted platform, which might be what actually wins this market. Google's Remy is currently in a dogfooding phase, which is standard practice at tech companies where employees test products before they reach the public. The company will hold its Google I/O event later this month (May 19-20), where it is widely expected to showcase its next wave of AI products. Agents are likely to be a centerpiece at this event, and Remy may well make its first public appearance there if Google is ready to show its hand.

Google Tests New AI Agent To Take On OpenClaw With Advanced Task Automation: Report - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GO

Google is testing a new AI agent, internally named "Remy". This agent operates within a staff-only version of Google's Gemini app and can integrate with a range of Google's other services, reported Business Insider on Tuesday, citing an internal document. Remy is a 24/7 Gemini-powered AI agent that acts on users' behalf, handling tasks across work, school, and daily life, not just answering questions or generating content. According to the report, AI agent appears to be more advanced than existing tools and has similarities to OpenClaw, an AI agent that gained popularity earlier this year for its ability to perform tasks such as responding to messages or conducting research for users. While there is no confirmed timeline for Remy's public launch, the document refers to it as a "dogfooding" project, indicating that employees are testing the product before its official release. Google did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comments. AI Agents Surge, OpenClaw Faces Heat The development of Remy comes at a time when AI agents are gaining momentum in the tech industry. OpenClaw is an open-source AI agent platform that enables autonomous task execution and decision-making with minimal user input. However, OpenClaw faced challenges as Anthropic cut its access amid surging AI demand. Last month, Anthropic stopped covering Claude usage on some third-party tools under the standard $200 per month subscription plan as surging demand strains its compute capacity. Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Image via Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

Big Tech's Personal AI Agents Are Coming for the to-Do List | PYMNTS.com

Google's version is codenamed Remy, Business Insider reported Tuesday (May 5). It runs inside the Gemini app and connects Google's broader suite of services, including search, email and calendar. It is described internally as a round-the-clock assistant for work, school and everyday life. To make room for it, Google shut down its previous AI agent experiment, called Mariner, Monday (May 4), folding that team's work into the new effort, The Decoder reported Wednesday (May 6). Google declined to comment to the publication. Meta's version is called Hatch, The Information reported Tuesday. The company has built practice environments where the assistant learns to navigate real consumer apps, including DoorDash, Etsy, Reddit and others before deployment. Hatch is scheduled for internal testing by the end of June. Meta is also building a shopping tool for Instagram that lets a user tap on a product in a video and complete a purchase without leaving the app, aimed squarely at TikTok Shop. Both companies are reacting to the same event. In January, an Austrian developer named Peter Steinberger released a free tool called OpenClaw that let people send a message on WhatsApp or Telegram and have software handle the rest, such as booking a meeting, drafting an email or running an errand online while they slept. It became one of the fastest-growing pieces of software in internet history, reaching 3.2 million users in weeks, The Next Web reported Sunday (May 3). It also had a ceiling. OpenClaw required users to install and run software on their own computer, following instructions that tripped up anyone without a technical background. One of the project's own team members warned that it was too dangerous for people who couldn't navigate a command line. Then in April, Anthropic, whose AI model powered much of OpenClaw, cut off flat-rate access and required users to pay separately for every interaction, Axios repoted April 6. The tool that had seemed like a breakthrough for everyday consumers stayed, in practice, a product for enthusiasts. Mark Zuckerberg said on Meta's most recent earnings call that he sees an opportunity to build a version of the OpenClaw experience that is more polished and easier to use, PYMNTS reported Tuesday. Remy and Hatch are that version. The core difference is where these products live. OpenClaw required installation on a personal computer. Remy lives inside an app Android users already have. Hatch will run inside Instagram, where more than 2 billion people spend time every day. There's no setup. The assistant arrives inside something people already open. That positioning matches where consumer behavior is heading. More than 60% of consumers in the United States used a dedicated AI platform in the past year, according to PYMNTS Intelligence. Neither Google nor Meta faces the cost problem that ended OpenClaw's cheap access. Both own the computing infrastructure that their assistants run on. When Anthropic raised the price of running OpenClaw, millions of users were left without an affordable option. Google and Meta are building for exactly that audience into the places those users already are. Google's annual developer conference, where the company is expected to say more about its agent plans, is scheduled for later this month.