# Multi-Agent Systems **Entity class:** Artificial-intelligence architecture **Domain:** Distributed intelligence / coordination / agent economies ## Definition Multi-agent systems contain multiple autonomous or semi-autonomous agents whose outcomes arise through cooperation, competition, negotiation, delegation, specialization and shared protocols. The unit of analysis is therefore not only what one model can do, but what populations of differently owned and differently instructed agents can produce together. ## Civilizational significance At large scale, multi-agent systems can create artificial markets and institutional behavior before any single system becomes a universal superintelligence. Communication, transaction and bargaining form the social substrate of an [[wiki/Agent Economy|Agent Economy]], while collective capability may become a pathway toward [[wiki/Superintelligence|Superintelligence]] through [[wiki/Collective Intelligence|Collective Intelligence]]. ## Primary routes [[wiki/Google DeepMind|Google DeepMind]] · [[wiki/Recursive Self-Improvement|Recursive Self-Improvement]] · [[wiki/Agentic AI|Agentic AI]] ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > “As AI technology scales, we’re entering a new era. Soon, millions of AI agents—built by different organizations—will interact across digital environments, communicating, negotiating and transacting with one another.” > **— Google DeepMind, Schmidt Sciences, the Cooperative AI Foundation, ARIA and Google.org**, *“Investing in Multi-Agent AI Safety Research,” June 11, 2026* [[reminders/Agentic AI/Millions of AI Agents Will Negotiate and Transact by Google DeepMind and Research Partners|Millions of AI Agents Will Negotiate and Transact by Google DeepMind and Research Partners]] > “After characterizing ASI, [the Google DeepMind report “From AGI to ASI”] discusses four potential pathways from AGI to ASI: scaling AGI, AI paradigm shifts, recursive improvement, and ASI emerging from large-scale multi-agent collectives.” > **— Google DeepMind**, *“From AGI to ASI,” June 12, 2026* [[reminders/Machine Succession/Four Pathways from AGI to ASI by Google DeepMind|Four Pathways from AGI to ASI by Google DeepMind]]