Google releases its asynchronous Jules AI agent for coding - how to try it for free

The Race to Deploy AI Agents Intensifies

The AI agent market is heating up, and Google is not sitting on the sidelines. At its annual I/O developer conference, the tech giant unveiled that Jules, its latest AI coding assistant, is now available worldwide in a public beta. This move is part of Google's broader strategy to capture a significant share of the rapidly growing AI agent market, which is seen as a more practical and lucrative extension of chatbot technology. Other tech behemoths like Meta, OpenAI, and Amazon have also jumped into the fray, launching their own AI agent products in recent months.

Curious about Jules? I let it loose in my code repository, and it completed four hours' worth of work in a flash. Impressive, right?

Introducing Jules: Google's New Coding Assistant

Jules was first introduced by Google Labs back in December, and it's designed to be a dependable, automated coding assistant. It tackles a wide range of time-consuming tasks, allowing human users to focus on more strategic work. What makes Jules unique is its "asynchronous" nature, meaning it can juggle multiple tasks without needing to wait for each one to finish. Once it's done, Jules provides a detailed outline of the changes made to your code, offering a clear window into its decision-making process.

Built on Gemini 2.5 Pro

Under the hood, Jules runs on Gemini 2.5 Pro, a powerful large language model that Google rolled out in March. Touted as Google's "most advanced model for complex tasks," Gemini 2.5 Pro has outperformed other leading models like OpenAI's o3-mini and Anthropic's Claude 3.7 Sonnet in crucial areas like math and code editing. This robust foundation allows Jules to offer advanced coding features, such as working directly within your codebase and understanding the full context of your project without needing a separate testing environment. Plus, its integration with GitHub makes it a breeze to switch between coding platforms.

As Kathy Koravec, director of product management at Google Labs, put it in a recent blog post, "We're at a turning point: agentic development is shifting from prototype to product and quickly becoming central to how software gets built."

Want to stay in the loop? Sign up for our Tech Today newsletter to get the morning's top stories delivered straight to your inbox.

The Name and Logo: A Nod to Science Fiction?

While Google hasn't officially spilled the beans on the inspiration behind Jules' name, it's tempting to think it might be a tribute to the legendary sci-fi writer Jules Verne. And that octopus logo? It could be a playful reference to Verne's classic "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea," which features a giant squid. But more likely, the octopus symbolizes Jules' ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously, much like the creature's semiautonomous arms.

Availability

Ready to give Jules a spin? It's now available for free in public beta, though there are some usage limits to keep in mind. You can try it out here.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, ZDNET's parent company, has filed a lawsuit against OpenAI in April 2025, alleging copyright infringement in the training and operation of its AI systems.