Does Google Have a Claude Code Counterpunch?

Do-everything, ‘super agents’ are dominating the AI story today. Will we see one from Google this week?

The rise of coding agents has reshaped the AI race. Since late last year, AI products that control your computer and act on your behalf have become the frontier, leaving benchmark-breaking model releases as something of an afterthought. Of the leading players, Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex have become company-defining products. But Google, despite its progress with Gemini, has yet to make similar inroads in the category.

Could that change this week? Tuesday kicks off Google I/O, the company’s annual developer event, and its most crucial moment of the year. A year ago (eons in AI time) Google used the event to emphatically state that it would ride the AI wave, promising to integrate AI into almost everything it made, including by placing AI Mode prominently in Search. Google’s made good on that promise. But now, given the technology’s trajectory, some will wonder if it’s enough.

By all indications, Google is unlikely to make a Claude Code-esque super agent the centerpiece of this week’s news, but there’s an argument to be made that Gemini acting across its products might deliver a similar experience. Coding agents are now capable of combing through your email, calendar, and docs and taking action for you, but Google already has billions of users across Gmail, Google Calendar, Chrome, and Google Drive, so a tighter implementation of the vision could be possible. Instead of taking control of your computer to build a slide deck, as Codex might do, Gemini might natively generate that deck right in Google Slides.

With Gemini’s capabilities powering an impressive surge for Google Cloud (63% revenue growth last quarter), the company is faring very well as AI transforms tech, a place many thought it would never get to given its legacy products. The company’s stock is up 136% over the past year and it’s shot past rivals including Meta and Microsoft who’ve invested vast sums of money in the technology.

Still, as Claude Code-style products reshape software, many will wonder whether Google has a counterpunch ready. The growth of these super agents is simply impossible for any incumbent to ignore, no matter how well the rest of the business is performing.

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The Intelligence Report

• 71% of Americans oppose AI data centers constructed near them, including 56% of Democrats and 39% of Republicans, according to a newly released Gallup survey.

• Researchers said Mythos successfully breached macOS as part of its April tests.

• The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority launched an investigation of Microsoft to explore potential antitrust issues related to its business software dominance.

• The remedies phase of the Musk v. OpenAI trial kicks off today, following about three weeks of testimony in the liability phase with closing arguments last week from lawyers for Elon Musk and OpenAI. The case now heads to deliberation by an advisory jury, whose verdict will help inform the judge’s final decision.

• OpenAI is exploring legal action against Apple over the companies’ AI-related partnership.

• The AI chipmaker Cerebras raised $5.55 billion with an IPO that could set the stage for future public offerings from other AI companies.

• Trump reportedly has been buying Nvidia, AMD, and other tech stocks like Palantir before making decisions favorable to them.

• The CEOs of Meta, Alphabet, TikTok and Snap have been invited to testify again in front of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee about social media risks for children.

• Someone made a deepfake scene of “The Office,” with Michael Scott introducing Claude to the Dunder Mifflin staff.

• Nvidia will report earnings on May 20. Others reporting results this week include Intuit, Zoom and Walmart.

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Meta layoffs expected this week

Meta’s much anticipated job cuts are planned for this week, arriving weeks after the company reported record profits and sky-high spending on AI.

Morale is reportedly low ahead of the massive cuts, which could include nearly 8,000 people, or about 10% of Meta’s workforce. One new report by the San Francisco Standard details how one longtime Meta employee said it feels to be at the company right now: “Even if we haven’t lost our jobs to AI yet, we’re being commoditized in advance.”

Beyond the cuts, employees have been protesting Meta’s reported plans for new software monitoring for U.S. employees to collect data for AI training, such as mouse movements, click locations, keystrokes and screen content. Last week, flyers were found on office vending machines and in bathrooms urging people to sign an online petition to stop Meta’s “Mouse Capability Initiative.” Organizers also say they’ve taken steps to protect people who sign the petition, such as making it harder to trace and harder to pressure employees not to sign.

“It should not be the norm that companies of any size are permitted to exploit their employees by nonconsensually extracting their data for the purposes of AI training,” according to the petition’s website, which notes more than 1,000 had signed as of May 14. “AI meant to serve and empower people cannot do so while disregarding or disrespecting the consent of the people it claims to serve.”

Of course, Meta’s just one of many companies making cuts right now. Last week, LinkedIn cut 5% of its workforce while Cisco cut another 4,000. Cited reasons vary, with LinkedIn saying it needs to “reinvent how we work” and Cisco’s employee memo citing a need to “continuously shift investment toward areas where demand and long-term value creation are strongest.”

Some college graduates are expressing their frustration with AI vocally during commencements. On Saturday, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt was booed when he mentioned AI during his speech at the University of Arizona. The previous weekend, students in Central Florida booed when a real estate executive’s speech described AI as the “next industrial revolution.”

More than half (56%) of students are pessimistic about the job market, according to CNBC and SurveyMonkey’s April survey of students and workers. The report, released last week, also found 53% of workers and 65% of students think AI is taking away job opportunities for entry level workers. The survey also asked both groups other questions about their views on AI, including some of the reasons they’ve avoided using it:

• Environmental reasons: 36% of students and 19% of workers

• Ethical and moral concerns: 36% of students and 29% of workers cited ethical and moral concerns for avoiding AI.

• Inaccuracies or lack of usefulness: 37% of students and 26% of workers are avoiding AI because it’s not accurate or useful.

• Privacy concerns: 37% of students and 37% of workers.

• Too difficult to learn: 6% of students and 8% of workers.

This Week On Big Technology Podcast: Satya Nadella’s OpenAI Concerns, Google’s Next AI Model, The AI Monet Prank

Join us for the Big Technology AI Summit on June, 18, 2026. Get your tickets here: summit.bigtechnology.com.... Ranjan Roy from Margins is back for our weekly discussion of the latest tech news. We cover: 1) Satya Nadella criticizing his OpenAI partnership 2) Did Microsoft play the OpenAI deal right? 3) AI native vs. bold on debate 4) Which big tech company will rank No. 1 in AI? 5) Bill Ackman buys Microsoft 6) OpenAI and Apple are on the outs 7) Claude for Small Business is here 8) What’s coming up at Google IO 9) The Great ‘AI Monet’ Prank 10) Alright, alright, alright

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