Hark Unveils Handoff AI Agent for Browser-Based Task Automation

AI startup Hark has unveiled Handoff, a browser-based AI agent designed to complete online tasks by interacting directly with websites, including those that do not provide official application programming interfaces (APIs). The company said the product will be available later this summer after an initial waitlist period.

Hark said Handoff can navigate websites such as Target, Walmart, OpenTable and LinkedIn by analysing both the visual layout and underlying page structure. The agent determines when to click buttons, enter information or perform other actions needed to complete a task without requiring dedicated integrations.

The concept is similar to other browser-use AI agents entering the market. Users can issue natural language commands for tasks such as ordering food, booking travel, reserving restaurant tables, shopping online, filing returns or researching information across multiple websites.

Designed to predict actions instead of text

During a product demonstration, Chief Executive Officer Brett Adcock showed Handoff creating a flower bouquet based on user instructions, including handling less specific requests such as allowing the florist to choose part of the arrangement. However, the demonstration only showed portions of the workflow, making it difficult to evaluate the agent's overall performance independently.

Hark said the current version relies on a post-trained AI model while the company prepares to introduce a pre-trained model later this year. According to the startup, this approach allows it to improve its data pipeline, infrastructure and training methods more rapidly.

Competing in the growing AI agent market

The company also claims its technology differs from traditional large language models by predicting the next user action, such as a mouse click or keyboard input, rather than simply generating the next text token.

Hark enters an increasingly competitive browser automation market that includes products from Google, OpenAI and Anthropic, alongside startups such as Browser Use, Polar, Strawberry and Aside. The company claims Handoff delivers faster performance while costing less than models including GPT 5.5 and Opus 4.8, though those performance claims have not been independently verified.