DevOps platform GitLab has announced the general availability of its Duo Chat, which it hopes will give developers a handy boost with enhanced AI integration.
GitLab Duo Chat, a part of the GitLab Duo Pro add-on, offers a natural-language chat interface that connects DevSecOps workflows throughout the software development lifecycle.
The AI assistant is designed with security in mind, with the company acknowledging internal research revealing that four in five (79%) are concerned about AI tools having access to private information or intellectual property.
GitLab launches its latest AI tools
Key features of GitLab Duo Chat include code explanation, helping users to comprehend unfamiliar code; code refactoring, aiding in modernizing legacy code; and test generation, automating tests to detect buga earlier in the development process.
The company confirmed that Duo Chat, which is part of the $19-per-user-per-month GitLab Dup Pro add-on, will be available within the GitLab user interface, including its Web IDE and popular IDEs like VS Code and the JetBrains suite.
In response to growing concerns regarding AI privacy, GitLab has also rolled out new AI privacy controls for Premium and Ultimate customers, enabling organizations to control sensitive data at the project, group and subgroup levels.
GitLab CPO David DeSanto commented: “With the general availability of Chat, we look forward to partnering with our customers to help increase developer productivity, improve code quality, and automate security for more efficient and secure software development.”
The company has already indicated that more features are coming soon, with “several GitLab Duo features” available for beta testing. Looking ahead, GitLab has also confirmed that model personalization and self-hosted model deployment are in the pipeline for customers seeking greater control over their AI security.
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