In The Matrix, the squid-like machine hunters that patrol the real world are called Sentinels.
Sentinels are autonomous machines used by the machine civilization to search for and attack human survivors outside the simulated Matrix. Their tentacle-like bodies and swarming behavior make them one of the franchise’s most recognizable mechanical threats.
The 1999 film follows Neo, who learns that the familiar world is a computer simulation and joins the human resistance. Sentinels operate in the devastated physical world, so they are distinct from the humanoid Agents who police the Matrix itself.
Viewers sometimes use “Agent” for every machine enemy in the film, but that is not precise. Agent Smith and the other Agents are software entities within the simulation, whereas Sentinels are physical machines. The franchise expanded the machines’ history and the conflict between humans and machines in later films and animated stories.