A Coding Assistant’s Bet on Ads Seems to Be Paying Off

Before we get to today’s column, it’s worth pointing out that Google CEO Sundar Pichai strongly hinted on X that Gemini 3, the long-awaited next update to Google’s line of Gemini models, would be coming out this week.

Google has done an impressive job of catching up to the other labs when it comes to conversational AI models, and Gemini 3 will be the company’s latest test to see whether it can keep pace. The model’s performance will also be another data point on whether we can expect to see AI gains continuing at the same pace as in the past.

On to today’s column…

The companies behind AI coding assistants such as Cursor, Replit and Devin have grown revenue ferociously by selling subscriptions or charging based on usage. 

But one firm, Sourcegraph, which makes a highly touted but underhyped coding assistant and is privately valued at $2.6 billion, bucked the trend last month by introducing a free tier powered by advertising. Based on Sourcegraph’s early results, don’t be surprised if its bigger rivals end up selling ads one day.