ByteDance Launches AI Code Editor as TikTok Ban Delays Continue
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ByteDance, the Chinese technology giant behind TikTok, has released an AI-powered code editor in what appears to be a strategic move following the recent delay of the US TikTok ban, the South China Morning Post reports. The new tool, named Trae, is specifically targeting overseas markets and utilizes advanced AI capabilities.
The integrated development environment (IDE) allows programmers to engage in conversational coding with an AI assistant, enabling the generation of code snippets and even entire project-level code based on natural language prompts. Trae currently offers its AI features for free, powered by either OpenAI's GPT-4 or Anthropic's Claude-3.5-Sonnet. The user interface supports both English and Chinese, catering to the significant number of overseas programmers from China.
While the company has yet to announce plans for additional language support, the software is currently available on Apple's macOS, with a Microsoft Windows version under development. ByteDance is distributing Trae through its Singapore-based subsidiary, Spring (SG) Pte, the same entity behind the 2023 launch of its Cici chatbot.
Interestingly, Trae is a fork of Microsoft's widely popular open-source IDE and text editor, Visual Studio Code. This approach mirrors the strategy employed by Cursor, another AI-powered coding tool, which is also based on Visual Studio Code. Trae's underlying technology leverages Electron, a cross-platform framework utilizing web standards based on Google's Chromium.