GitHub is going multi-model for its Copilot programming and code completion tool. Developers will soon be able to choose models from Anthropic, Google, and OpenAI for GitHub Copilot. GitHub is also announcing Spark, an ai tool for building web applications, and updates to GitHub Copilot in VS Code, Copilot for Xcode, and more at its GitHub Universe conference today.
GitHub Copilot users on the web or VS Code can select Claude 3.5, with Gemini 1.5 Pro coming in the coming weeks. OpenAI's GPT-4o, o1-preview, and o1-mini will also be available soon on GitHub Copilot. Developers will be able to switch between models during a conversation with Copilot Chat to find the best model for a particular task.
“There is no single model that governs all scenarios, and developers expect the agency to build with the models that work best for them,” says GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke. “It is clear that the next phase of ai code generation will not only be defined by multi-model functionality, but also by multi-model choice.”
Microsoft-owned GitHub was the first to launch its ai tool called Copilot in 2021, ahead of Microsoft's push to make Copilot the center of its ai efforts. It was the first major result of Microsoft's initial $1 billion investment in OpenAI, and GitHub announced last week that Copilot now has more than 1 million paid subscribers. It will be interesting to see if Microsoft adopts GitHub's multi-model approach and opens up its own Copilot ai assistant to models from rivals like Google and Anthropic.
GitHub is also announcing Spark today, an artificial intelligence tool that makes it easy to build web applications using natural language. An initial push uses OpenAI and Anthropic models to produce live previews of what the web app will look like, and GitHub Spark users can compare versions as they make changes. GitHub Spark allows experienced developers to manipulate code directly, while novices can build a web application entirely using natural language.
Once the app is created, you can run it on a desktop, tablet, or mobile device and also share it with others to allow people to remix and create Spark apps. GitHub Spark is part of GitHub's vision to reach 1 billion developers. “For too long, there has been an insurmountable barrier to entry separating a vast majority of the world's population from creating software,” says Dohmke. “With Spark, we will enable more than one billion personal computer and mobile phone users to build and share their own microapps directly on GitHub.”
GitHub is also announcing more updates to Copilot in its GitHub Universe today. Multi-file editing for GitHub Copilot in VS Code is coming on November 1, allowing users to make edits to multiple files at the same time using Copilot Chat. Copilot extensions will also be available in early 2025, GitHub Copilot for Xcode enters public preview, and Copilot now has a new code review capability.
