MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Google is rolling out a new artificial-intelligence feature in its Chrome browser that allows an AI agent to browse the web and complete multi-step tasks on a user’s behalf — a shift that could reshape how consumers interact with financial services online.
The capability, called “auto browse,” is powered by Google’s Gemini 3 model and lets users assign natural-language tasks such as comparing products, researching options, or completing online forms. The AI can open websites, navigate pages, click links, and execute workflows across multiple sites, reducing the need for manual interaction. The feature is launching in preview for Google AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers in the U.S. on desktop Chrome, according to PYMNTS.
For financial institutions, the move signals both opportunity and risk. AI agents embedded at the browser level could accelerate account onboarding, loan research, and product comparison — but may also introduce new fraud, authentication, and data-security concerns if automated tools begin interacting with banking, payments, or eCommerce platforms at scale, analysts stated.
Google said sensitive actions such as purchases or social-media posts will require explicit user approval.
The feature builds on earlier Chrome AI tools that summarize content and answer questions, but auto browse moves from passive assistance to active execution — enabling AI to perform transactions and workflows rather than simply surface information. Google is positioning the upgrade as part of a broader push to turn Chrome into an AI-native productivity platform, with a persistent side panel that allows users to monitor and control the agent in real time, PYMNTS reported.