Google killed the open-source Gemini CLI, which had 6,000 merged community pull requests, and replaced it with a closed-source tool called Antigravity CLI. Developers worry Google can't be trusted to keep tools alive, and the rebrand from Gemini to an obscure name makes no sense.
Bye bye Gemini CLI. Google's gone and swapped you for a closed source AI. So Jonathan and I talk about this a lot, but Jonathan's given this perspective that it's really hard to trust Google products because you never know when it's just going to get the plug taken out where you might start building up a habit of using a Google tool. You know, there's been various in the past. This is the latest with Gemini CLI where they actually had accepted 6,000+ merged community PRs. Incited that labor as proof of success, and then they're announcing June 18th they're going to shut it down and have a closed-source replacement called Antigravity CLI.
There's a Hacker News on this.
How does anyone internally at Google justify these decisions? Even if there are competing implementations, in terms of brand recognition, I feel like Gemini is more closely associated with Google than Antigravity. Why pick the more obscure option? Perhaps they felt the sentiment on Gemini CLI was beyond repair, But surely there must be some voice on the inside saying developers will never adopt our products if we keep killing them.
I completely agree. And I bet there's people within Google too are just like, I don't want to do this. And it's just like this big machine that generates AdWords and makes lots of money and then throws everything else to this arbitrary sort of capitalistic machine. And I don't think anybody likes it.
