It would of course depend on the specifics, an AI Agent that's looking for market trades would be different than one related to study or intellectual pursuit.

It would of course depend on the specifics, an AI Agent that's looking for market trades would be different than one related to study or intellectual pursuit. On the mechanics, of course it's worth clarifying that one should assume that no prompts are given to the agent, and perhaps even that no output is looked at. In that sense this is much less a violation of the Shabbat done an oven on a timer (which needs to be kept under close watch due to fire hazards AND whose fruits one enjoys during Shabbat itself). I do agree that there doesn't seem to be much new in this conundrum, but in taking that route of analysis, one ends up being complacent and focusing on the easy existing answers instead of asking the harder question "what is different about THIS technology?" IANAR but I'd say not letting an agent run on a Shabbat would be very strict, if financially productive, it's on par with the strict position on the flour mill, while if it's not financially productive, it's as strict as forbidding Study on Shabbat.