Google Cloud has announced a partnership with Replit, the popular coding platform used by over 20 million developers worldwide. This collaboration will allow Replit to leverage Google’s Large Language Model (LLM) to help developers write software faster.

Software development teams use Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) to write code. These applications combine the functionality of word processors with other tools designed to make developers’ work easier. Replit’s cloud-based IDE has gained significant traction, with more than 20 million developers signing up for the platform since its launch.

The new partnership with Google Cloud will allow Replit to use the search engine’s large-scale language model, Ghostwriter Chat. This AI-based tool helps developers enter code into Replit’s cloud-based IDE and can explain existing code and troubleshoot software errors.

Replit and Google Cloud also plan to collaborate in other areas. The startup will use Google’s infrastructure to host its cloud-based IDE and integrate Google Cloud Services and Workspace into its software projects. Alphabet plans to give startup users a “quick way to set up” their Google Cloud Platform products. Additionally, Google will make Replit its preferred IDE, available to developers using software engineering tools from Google Cloud Services and Workspace.

One of Google Cloud’s top cloud rivals, Microsoft, also invests in AI-powered developer tools. The company’s GitHub subsidiary recently debuted a new version of its coding assistant, Copilot, called Copilot X. The tool is based on OpenAI’s latest language model, GPT-4, and is more AI integrated, with the ability to generate command-line queries as well as code.

Using AI-powered tools in software development promises to improve performance, scalability, and efficiency. It will be interesting to see how this collaboration evolves and impacts the broader developer ecosystem.