Jules: AI programming assistant from Google in the beta phase
Google launches the beta test of its AI programming assistant Jules. The way it works differs from similar AI assistants such as GitHub Copilot.
Google I/O logo
(Image: Google Blogbeitrag)
During its developer conference, Google I/O, Google launched the beta phase of a new software called Jules. It is aimed at software developers who want to be helped with everyday tasks by Google's AI model Gemini 2.5 Pro. Google is also making it clear that it does not want to leave the market for developer tools with AI support to GitHub. However, Jules is not a simple GitHub Copilot replica and is also dependent on GitHub.
On behalf of the user
Jules does not currently work in an IDE, but away from familiar development tools. Once you have registered for the test phase at jules.google – with a Google account, it only takes seconds – the assistant asks you to connect to GitHub and grant extensive rights. You can then select a repository and have Jules check it out. Google copies the content to a virtual machine in the Google Cloud and analyzes the content. Jules is then ready to accept orders. When linking the account, a note promises: “Google does not train its generative AI models with content that Jules receives from your private repositories.”
When introducing Jules, Google mentions the typical tasks for Jules as mainly tedious busywork: Customizing versions of dependencies, writing tests, documenting code, but also adding new features. Jules knows the context of the project and offers suggestions to the user in the form of a plan of what they would change. If the user agrees, Jules implements the plan step by step and shows a diff of the changes. Because the assistant can work on behalf of the user at GitHub, it can also create commits and pull requests for the GitHub repository on request.
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High load
Working with Jules is free during the test phase, but Google points out that there will probably be a charge for using it later on. Users can test in regions where Gemini is available. A notice displayed by Google the day after the announcement shows that the test phase is already attracting interest: “Jules is experiencing high load, tasks may experience increased latency.”
(jam)
