Replit aims to empower the next billion software creators.

In this week’s episode of NVIDIA’s AI Podcast, host Noah Kraviz dives into a conversation with Replit CEO Amjad Masad. Masad says the San Francisco-based maker of a software development platform, which came up as a member of NVIDIA’s startup accelerator program, wants to bridge the gap between ideas and software, a task simplified by advances in generative AI.

“Replit is fundamentally about reducing the friction between an idea and a software product,” Masad said.

The company’s Ghostwriter coding AI has two main features: a code completion model and a chat model. These features not only make suggestions as users type their code, but also provide intelligent explanations of what a piece of code is doing, tracing dependencies and context. The model can even flag errors and offers solutions — like a full collaborator in a Google Docs for code.

The company is also developing “make me an app” functionality. This tool allows users to provide high-level instructions to an Artificial Developer Intelligence, which then builds, tests and iterates the requested software.

The aim is to make software creation accessible to all, even those with no coding experience. While this feature is still under development, Masad said the company plans to improve it over the next year, potentially having it ready for developers in the next 6 to 8 months.

Going forward, Masad envisions a future where AI functions as a collaborator, able to conduct high-level tasks and even manage resources. “We're entering a period where software is going to feel more alive,” Masad said. “And so I think computing is becoming more humane, more accessible, more exciting, more natural.”

For more on NVIDIA’s startup accelerator program, visit https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/startups/