Code, debug, repeat: Google's new AI agent promises full dev support

It's almost Google I/O time – the Big G's forum is scheduled for May 20 and 21 (precisely a week from now)!

I can already tell you what it's going to be about: AI, some more AI and then, even more AI. Did I mention that Google's conference is going to be about artificial intelligence? Don't act surprised: this was the case at Google I/O 2024. Today, Big Tech people are even more obsessed with the AI acronym.

Joking aside, The Information has got some information that in the lead-up to its I/O developer conference, Google has been showcasing a range of upcoming tools to employees and external developers. Among those, there's allegedly a new AI assistant aimed at software development.

Internally referred to as the "software development lifecycle agent", the tool is designed to assist engineers throughout every phase of development, from managing tasks to generating documentation. People familiar with the demos say the AI acts like a constant teammate, capable of spotting bugs and flagging security issues. It's still unclear how soon this feature might be made publicly available, but we could get a sneak peek at the upcoming I/O conference.

Also, yesterday we told you that Google is testing a new feature that turns the Search app into Reddit, sort of. There could be a comment section appearing in the mobile version of Google Search, where users can post, reply, and vote on comments. This feature currently shows up for sports-related queries, such as "team vs team" matchups.

This move appears to be part of Google's broader effort to keep users engaged with Search, amid growing competition from AI platforms like ChatGPT and its own Gemini. There are reports of declining search activity on Apple devices and Google may be looking for new ways to retain user attention.

None other than Apple's services chief Eddy Cue suggested that artificial intelligence could make traditional search engines obsolete by 2035. He noted that Google search activity on Apple devices had already declined in April – its first-ever drop! – due to rising AI usage, arguing that this shift could naturally reduce Google's influence over time.



To perform a search using ChatGPT in 4–5 simple steps, you should:

• Open ChatGPT by visiting chat.openai.com and logging into your account
• Start a new chat by clicking on "New Chat" in the sidebar
• Type your question or topic clearly, as if you're asking a person (for example, "How come polar bears don't eat penguins?")
• Read the response generated by ChatGPT
• Ask follow-up questions if you need more information or want to go deeper into the topic

This could be the search routine of the future – if you trust ChatGPT enough. But do you trust Google right now? This is the key question.

As you probably know, Apple gets paid $20 billion a year by Google to make its platform the default search engine on Apple devices – and that deal faces scrutiny from the US Department of Justice. The DOJ sees this as evidence of Google's dominance in search and is pushing to dismantle such arrangements as part of its broader antitrust case.