Developers Embrace AI Tools: A Look at Laredo Labs
Recent surveys indicate that developers are increasingly adopting AI technologies in their work. A recent poll by Stack Overflow revealed a strong positive sentiment, with 77% of developers expressing enthusiasm for integrating AI into their workflows. They highlighted benefits such as enhanced productivity and accelerated learning.
Among the AI-powered tools gaining popularity, GitHub Copilot leads the charge, with Amazon CodeWhisperer also making an impact. Despite efforts from these tech giants to dominate the emerging sector, innovative startups are crafting their own solutions.
Spotlight on Laredo Labs
Take Laredo Labs, for example. This startup is pioneering an AI-driven platform designed for code generation. By harnessing an AI model trained on data from approximately 100 million software projects, Laredo can write, edit, and delete code based on high-level natural language instructions, while simultaneously documenting the development process.
Founded in 2022 by Mark Gabel and Daniel Lord, Laredo Labs was built on a foundation of rich experience. Gabel previously served as the chief scientist at Viv Labs, acquired by Samsung in 2016 for its Bixby voice assistant. Lord was a platform engineer at Siri before Apple purchased the startup.
“We are passionate about our craft, always striving for better software at a faster pace,” Gabel remarked in an email interview. “My background in AI-driven software engineering, combined with the rapid advancements in AI, opened up a unique opportunity to transform software development tools dramatically.”
This passion for innovation drove Gabel and Lord to develop their own models and user experience, creating what they assert is one of the most extensive datasets for software engineering available today. Currently in private preview, Laredo's platform allows users to complete "repository-level" tasks based solely on instructions or even direct text from an issue tracker.
“Laredo is a ‘full-stack’ machine learning company,” Gabel stated. “We’re revolutionizing the developer experience with our ambitious new AI-driven platform.”
Navigating Legal Challenges
However, like all tools fueled by generative AI, coding tools face legal challenges. Microsoft, GitHub, and OpenAI are entangled in a class-action lawsuit alleging that Copilot, which was trained on billions of publicly available code examples, infringes on intellectual property law by reproducing sections of copyrighted code without proper attribution. Legal experts warn that companies could inadvertently risk incorporating copyrighted suggestions from tools like Copilot into their own software.
It remains unclear whether Laredo's models were trained on copyrighted material or what indemnification measures the company has in place should a customer face IP-related legal issues. I have reached out to Gabel for clarification and will provide updates as they become available.
A Competitive Landscape
Amidst legal uncertainties, Laredo enters a crowded market. A notable competitor, Sweep, also aims to automate essential development tasks using generative models trained on extensive coding project datasets.
Despite the competition, Gabel remains optimistic about Laredo's prospects. “The software engineering market is vast and allows for a variety of players, and Laredo currently occupies its unique niche,” he said.
Although Laredo is not yet generating revenue, it successfully raised $8.5 million in a seed funding round co-led by Radical Ventures and Horizons Ventures. A portion of this new investment will be allocated to team expansion, growing Laredo's workforce from eight to ten by year-end.
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