Google’s Jules brings asynchronous AI agents to software development

Google has escalated the AI agent race with the global public beta release of Jules, a sophisticated coding assistant built on its Gemini 2.5 Pro large language model. The announcement at Google’s I/O developer conference represents a strategic move to capture market share in the increasingly competitive AI agent space, where major tech companies like Meta, OpenAI, and Amazon have recently launched similar products. Jules signals an important evolution in AI development tools as they transition from experimental prototypes to essential components of software engineering workflows.

The big picture: Jules operates as an asynchronous AI coding assistant that can handle multiple programming tasks simultaneously without requiring sequential completion.

• The agent can work directly within a user’s codebase without needing a sandbox environment, absorbing the full context of projects to make more informed decisions.
• After completing tasks, Jules provides comprehensive documentation of the changes made, offering transparency into its reasoning process.

Technical capabilities: Google’s new coding agent is built upon Gemini 2.5 Pro, which the company claims outperforms competing models from OpenAI and Anthropic on key benchmarks.

• The model excels particularly in math and code editing capabilities, positioning it as an advanced tool for complex programming tasks.
• Jules integrates directly with GitHub, eliminating the need for developers to manually switch between platforms when working on projects.

Behind the name: While Google hasn’t officially explained the inspiration for Jules, the name likely references science fiction writer Jules Verne.

• The agent’s octopus logo could be a loose allusion to Verne’s novel “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea,” which features a giant squid.
• The octopus imagery also effectively symbolizes the agent’s ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously, similar to the animal’s semi-autonomous arms.

Availability: Jules is currently available worldwide in public beta for free, though Google has implemented some usage limitations.

Industry context: Google’s product launch reflects a broader industry shift toward AI agents as the next evolution beyond standard chatbots.

• Google Labs’ director of product management Kathy Koravec described the current moment as “a turning point” where “agentic development is shifting from prototype to product.”
• The development comes amid ongoing legal challenges in the AI space, with ZDNET’s parent company Ziff Davis filing a copyright infringement lawsuit against OpenAI in April 2025.