Google challenges Microsoft's GitHub Copilot with AI-powered Colab
What's the story
An AI race has taken shape in the past few months. On one side, we have Microsoft and OpenAI, and on the other, there is Google. The Microsoft-OpenAI tandem first showcased its AI abilities with the GitHub Copilot in 2021. Google now wants to challenge the duo in AI coding. To do so, the company plans to add AI features to Colab.
Context
Why does this story matter?
Google has been playing catch-up to Microsoft in the AI race. Despite its years of experience in AI research, the company has somehow found itself trailing. Coding has evolved as one of the chief characteristics of AI chatbots. While Microsoft and OpenAI's offerings are proficient in coding, Google still needs improvement. With the new Colab, the company aims to change that.
AI coding
Google will add AI coding features to Colab soon
Google announced Colab will soon get AI coding features like code completions, natural language to code generations, and a code-assisting chatbot. If you're not familiar with Colab, it allows developers to write and execute code in Python through the browser. Developers do not have to download any additional software to do this. It was launched in 2017.
Codey
Colab's AI coding abilities are powered by Codey
The company will use the recently announced Codey to supercharge Colab with AI features. Codey is a "family of code models built on PaLM 2." The company said Codey's dataset is "permissively licensed." The Codey models used on Colab have been customized for Python and Colab-specific uses. PaLM 2 is the large language model behind the new version of Google Bard.
Features
It can generate code from natural language prompts
The initial iteration of Codey on Colab will focus on code generation from natural language prompts. This will help developers write larger blocks of boilerplate codes. This way, developers will be able to focus on the more interesting aspects of programming. Developers can generate code by pressing the 'Generate' button after writing a prompt. The integrated chatbot will help with doubts.
Information
Codey-powered Colab will be free
Colab's AI coding abilities will be initially available to users in the US, Google said in a blog post. Unlike GitHub Copilot which charges users, the Codey-powered Colab will be free for users.