On Tuesday, Google announced the release of a new, free version of its AI tool designed for code completion and assistance, named Gemini Code Assist for Individuals. Additionally, the company introduced Gemini Code Assist for GitHub, a code review feature that automatically identifies bugs and provides suggestions within GitHub.
Gemini Code Assist for Individuals allows developers to engage with a Google AI model through a chat interface, enabling natural language interactions to access and modify their codebase. Similar to GitHub’s Copilot, Gemini Code Assist for Individuals is capable of bug fixing, code completion, and explaining complex code sections.
Google’s AI coding assistant is powered by a specialized version of the company’s Gemini 2.0 AI model, tailored specifically for coding applications. It can be integrated with widely-used coding environments such as VS Code and JetBrains via plugins, supporting a variety of programming languages.
Importantly, Code Assist for Individuals offers 180,000 code completions per month, which is substantially higher than the 2,000 completions available in the free GitHub Copilot plan. Additionally, it provides 240 chat requests daily, significantly surpassing the offering of GitHub’s free plan.
The underlying model for Code Assist for Individuals features a 128,000-token context window, which is notably over four times larger than that of competitors. This allows the model to process more code in a single prompt, enabling it to handle more complex codebases.
Developers can begin signing up for the free public preview of Gemini Code Assist for Individuals starting Tuesday.
For Gemini Code Assist for GitHub, it automatically examines pull requests to detect bugs and provides potentially helpful recommendations.
These tools are part of Google’s expanded efforts to compete with Microsoft and GitHub in the developer tools market. Notably, seven months prior, Google recruited Ryan Salva, the former lead of the GitHub Copilot team, to enhance Google’s developer tools.
By delivering a free AI coding assistant with substantial usage limits, Google aims to attract early-career developers to Code Assist. Salva mentioned in an interview with TechCrunch that he anticipates some of these developers may eventually opt for an enterprise plan, where Google generates revenue.
For about a year, Google has been offering Gemini Code Assist to enterprises. In December, the company announced the forthcoming integration of the AI coding assistant with third-party tools from GitLab, GitHub, and Google Docs. Enterprise tiers include additional features such as audit logs, integration with other Google Cloud products, and customization options for private repositories.
