PALO ALTO, Calif. – May 4, 2023 – Metabob announced today a new artificial intelligence (AI)-powered virtual studio code (VSCode) extension for its debugging and refactoring tool that speeds software development code review by 60%. It provides users with functional context-sensitive code recommendations to fix errors right in the integrated development environment (IDE) – and it is specifically trained to fix code generated by AI tools, such as GitHub Copilot and ChatGPT.

There is a growing use of AI systems for code generation, however, code is still mainly reviewed either manually or by using rule-based systems. Both approaches have drawbacks: manual review is time-consuming and rule-based systems work only on predefined rule sets to identify bugs. Also, rule-based systems only find pre-defined coding errors and, since they do not understand code logic and context, they tend to flag irrelevant issues that waste review time.

“With recent advancements in AI, we set out to solve this problem and free up time for developers. Software developers are valuable for their ability to produce code, and their productivity is reduced when fixing bugs,” said Massi Genta, CEO, Metabob. “The VSCode extension helps to make our tool available to even more developers. This way, Metabob’s AI can quickly find and explain errors in plain English and recommend solutions on how to fix them.”

Metabob (and the VSCode extension) is trained on millions of bug fixes of both human- and AI-generated code. This has allowed the tool to learn to detect complex problems spanning across code bases that require understanding of code logic and context. In fact, over the last two years Metabob has collected feedback from close to 1,000 developers to perfect the tool. Today, Metabob can perform AI-based reviews on Python code and is one of the fastest growing tools on GitHub.

“We are excited to announce the new release of the Metabob VSCode extension,” said Shige Ihara, president and CEO, NEC X. “NEC Corporation has recently announced its policy to use generative AI, such as ChatGPT, to enhance employee efficiency and productivity. Aligning with the policy, NEC X has already started discussing with several NEC groups the use of Metabob in their software development process. We are very confident about Metabob’s bug detection and recommendation abilities, and we believe it will contribute to improving the quality and efficiency of software development for NEC group companies as well as other enterprises and individual developers.”“In the current business climate, where companies are laying off software developers in droves, efficient, automated code review is more important than ever before,” said Genta. “We are confident that Metabob will play an important role in increasing the productivity of developers and their teams.”More information about Metabob can be found at https://www.metabob.com. Follow Metabob on Twitter and LinkedIn. NEC X, the innovation accelerator for NEC’s emerging technologies, incubated Metabob from the concept stage to the development of a minimum-viable product. Upon graduation from its program in 2021, NEC X helped Metabob join several accelerators such as Alchemist Accelerator and has provided continuous support in its pre- and post-incorporation development and fundraising. Those interested in participating or learning more about NEC X’s Venture Studio Program as entrepreneurs, partners or investors can visit https://nec-x.com or email contact-us@nec-x.com.NEC is a registered trademark of NEC Corporation. All rights reserved. Other product or service marks mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners. ©2023 NEC Corporation.# # #

About Metabob

Automatically detect severe and more relevant problems and vulnerabilities early in the development process with the help of AI. Save time from code reviews & debugging. Metabob uses a combination of ML techniques to detect logical and context-based problems from code and offers code suggestions for fixes, saving up to 60% of the time from code reviews & debugging. Metabob can be integrated directly into companies’ CI/CD pipelines.

About NEC X

NEC X Inc. builds on the strength of NEC’s technologies to accelerate the development of innovative products and services. NEC X provides its Venture Studio Programs to entrepreneurs-in-residence (EIRs) to fast-track the development of technologies and business ideas brought by EIRs or from inside NEC. NEC X has won industry-leading awards such as “Best in Biz” and “BIG Innovation.” The company is located in Silicon Valley, enabling fast access to its entrepreneurial ecosystem and strong high-technology market. Learn more at https://nec-x.com or by emailing contact-us@nec-x.com.

Media Contacts:

Metabob
Fabian Eggers
+1-408-425-2291
fabian@metabob.com

NEC X Inc.
Sandy Fewkes
Kiterocket
+1-408-529-9685
sfewkes@kiterocket.com