Meta, Google enter AI agent race as ‘agentic wars’ heat up

This report is taken from this week’s newsletter The Tech Download. As you see? You can subscribe Here.

Earlier this year, agency AI tool OpenClaw went viral, and everyone and their grandmother was queuing up to download the digital assistant on their devices.

Nvidia’s Jensen Huang was enthusiastic in his praise, calling the tool “the next ChatGPT” and OpenAI citing Peter Steinberger, creator of OpenClaw (a sign of the AI ​​lab’s intentions in the space).

A few months later, the race among Big Tech to develop agency technology—artificial intelligence tools that can perform tasks for users—is starting to heat up.

Last week both Meta And Google They are reportedly working on AI agents. Meta is developing a “highly personalized AI assistant to handle daily tasks” for its users, according to the Financial Times reported. Google is developing a 24/7 personal agent for work, school and daily life, powered by Gemini. Business Content.

Meta did not respond to a request for comment and Google declined to comment.

“The immediate catalyst is OpenClaw,” Nick Patience, AI lead at Futurum Group, told CNBC. “The open source broker has shown a real desire for AI that takes action rather than just responding.”

Competitive pressure is the apparent driving force, but there is a “deeper logic,” he added. “Agencies represent the point at which AI platforms move from cost centers to revenue infrastructure, whether through commerce, advertising or enterprise productivity.”

Agencies handling transactions for tech companies like Google and Meta, both of which have large advertising and e-commerce businesses, can be a “huge value driver,” said Malik Ahmed Khan, senior analyst at Morningstar.

Ultimately, Big Tech companies see AI agents as a way to increase user subscriptions and maintain platform control, Gartner Analyst Arun Chandrasekaran told me.

“Agencies can create greater engagement, benefit and customer loyalty on their platforms through their ability to deliver more tangible value,” he said. “Additionally, agents have higher retention due to the continuous learning and user context they gain over a period of time.”

But the security and governance of AI agents is still a work in progress. In February, a Meta employee went viral after reporting that OpenClaw had voluntarily deleted large amounts of emails.

There is also the issue of trust and how businesses can manage the risk of an AI agent doing something wrong.

“Moving from AI systems that say the wrong thing to AI systems that do the wrong thing is a qualitatively different risk management problem,” Patience said. “Most businesses, and probably most retailers, are not yet equipped to handle this at scale.”

Regardless, AI agents will continue to dominate analyst conversation. AMD CEO Lisa Su told CNBC earlier this week that agents are creating huge demand in the AI ​​cycle.

SoftBank Shares posted their best day since 2020 earlier this week amid a broader tech-fueled rally that saw Japan’s Nikkei 225 index rise to record highs. One commentator said the company’s gains were boosted by its close ties to Arm and AI lab OpenAI.