Browser Use, one of the tools powering Manus, is also going viral

Manus platform boosts Browser Use, an AI tool experiencing viral growth and quadrupling downloads in one week.

: Manus, a platform by Butterfly Effect, has indirectly promoted the AI tool Browser Use, leading to significant growth in its user base. Gregor Zunic, co-creator of Browser Use, reported that downloads soared from 5,000 to 28,000 in a week. This surge came after Manus showcased Browser Use's capabilities, significantly increasing its exposure on social media. Zunic and Magnus Müller aim to provide developers with a foundational tool for creating web agents, foreseeing a rise in AI web interactions.

Browser Use, co-created by Gregor Zunic and Magnus Müller, has become an unexpected sensation due to its association with the viral AI platform Manus. The tool's downloads surged from approximately 5,000 to 28,000 within a week, highlighting its rising prominence in agentic AI applications. Zunic attributes this success to a post on X detailing how Manus uses Browser Use, which garnered over 2.4 million views. This growth has positioned Browser Use as a key component used by Manus to execute internet tasks autonomously, such as navigating menus and completing forms.

Zunic, who launched the Browser Use company with Magnus Müller from ETH Zurich's Student Project House accelerator, envisioned web agents becoming a significant trend by 2025. Initially, the team devised a minimal viable product (MVP) and launched it on Hacker News, achieving rapid success as it quickly ascended to the top rank. This background emphasizes the developers' insight into the potential of AI-driven web interactions and their strategic approach to harnessing its appeal.

Browser Use serves a critical function by extracting interactive elements on websites—like buttons and widgets—enabling AI models to interact with these sites more seamlessly. It supports various browser functions, like managing tabs and handling user inputs via mouse and keyboard. Although the company charges for managed service plans, a free, self-hosted version of Browser Use has caught widespread attention following Manus's release, driving its viral success.

According to Zunic, the vision behind Browser Use is to provide a foundational tool for developers looking to venture into the promising arena of web agents. This 'shovel' to the 'gold rush', as Zunic puts it, supports predictions that web agents could soon outnumber human users on websites by the end of the year. Such optimistic forecasts are reinforced by industry analysts expecting robust growth in the AI agent market, projecting it to reach $42 billion by 2029, with considerable adoption anticipated by 2027.

Despite Manus boosting its profile, Browser Use's success also coincides with broader tech trends favorable to its model. The combination of strategic foresight by its creators, an emerging market for web-interacting AI, and the publicity wave from Manus seems to have catalyzed its rapid adoption. This positions Browser Use and its hosts for a promising trajectory in the evolving landscape of AI web autonomy and interaction.

Sources: TechCrunch, ETH Zurich, Research and Markets, Deloitte.

technologyAIstartups