AI labs have spent billions training models that can do far more than chat, but WIRED reports that the general public has largely ignored the AI agent products built on top of them — a gap that has Silicon Valley broadly bewildered. For enterprise technology decision-makers evaluating where to place bets, the adoption numbers provide a concrete baseline: OpenAI's Codex and ChatGPT Work agents draw about 10 million weekly users, while chatbots such as ChatGPT and Gemini average roughly one billion monthly active users.
The viral post that started the debate
The public indifference broke into the open this week in a viral post on X from Josh Miller, CEO of The Browser Company. According to WIRED, Miller wrote:
Hot take … isn’t it kinda crazy that nobody is really using AI Agents... Theoretically, the tech is ready for AI agents to totally transform how we work and live our lives … but alas the general public dgaf (doesn’t give a fuck).
Miller told WIRED in an interview on Wednesday that he fired off the post while half asleep during a family trip to Europe, and that he stands by it. “I just have not heard a single person outside of the tech community talk about an agent that they use,” he said.
Agent adoption vs. chatbot adoption
The numbers behind Miller's complaint are stark, according to WIRED:
| Product | Category | Reported adoption |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT, Gemini | Chatbots | ~1 billion monthly active users on average |
| Codex, ChatGPT Work (OpenAI) | AI agents | ~10 million weekly users, per OpenAI last month |
| Claude Code, Cowork (Anthropic) | AI agents | Similar levels to OpenAI, per people close to Anthropic |
WIRED reported that compared with the chatbot user bases, agents “amount to basically a rounding error.” That is a problem for the AI labs, the article noted, because most consumers still use generative AI for simple tasks such as looking up information and chatting, while agents represent a way to capitalise on the billions spent training more capable models — if people actually use them. WIRED also reported broader concerns among AI insiders that no one has created a killer consumer product for agents so far.
‘Agents aren't a thing’
Miller's bigger point, according to WIRED, is that agents are a technology rather than a stand-alone product.
“No one wants AI agents, because AI agents aren't a thing. It is an invented frame made up by our industry to collectively refer to something,” Miller told WIRED. “Let's make a product that makes you calm, focused, and inflow right when you open your laptop. And the fact that we're able to do that because there's a thing called a ‘harness’ that calls up tools—who cares? Like, no one needs to know that.”
His suggested alternative: build the outcome and hide the mechanism. He told WIRED The Browser Company's most popular feature ever is a personalised morning briefing in Dia, its AI-powered browser. When users open their laptop they get:
- A homepage with a greeting.
- A daily to-do list populated from their calendar and email.
- Random tidbits designed to spark joy, such as a piece of art.
Technically, Miller said, the feature was only made possible by an AI agent — but the user doesn't need to know that.
Why Miller's argument carries weight
Miller has shipped consumer products before, WIRED noted. His startup The Browser Company developed Arc, a web browser with a cult following that Atlassian acquired last year for $610 million. His first company, Branch, was bought by Facebook in 2014, and Miller previously served as the White House's first director of product under President Obama. WIRED's Maxwell Zeff wrote that despite Miller's self-deprecating personality — he frequently noted he is “just” a sociology major — his arguments are worth paying attention to.
The adoption signal for enterprise buyers
For technology leaders deciding whether to standardise on agent infrastructure, the WIRED reporting supplies a benchmark rather than a verdict. OpenAI's agent products sit at roughly 10 million weekly users and Anthropic's at similar levels, while the task profile of most consumers remains the simple information lookup and chat that WIRED described. Miller's framing points to a pattern: successful products deliver a calm, focused, in-flow experience — the morning briefing he cited — with the agent harness kept out of sight. Buyers evaluating agent platforms can apply the same test: measure the user-facing outcome, not the label on the box.
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