GitHub Copilot, an AI-powered tool to help software development, has moved away from relying solely on OpenAI AI models and is moving toward a multi-model approach. In the coming weeks, GitHub will add support for Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet, and Google Gemini 1.5 Pro will be integrated later, giving developers a wide choice of AI models optimized for various tasks and programming languages.
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In addition to AI models from Anthropic and Google, GitHub will also add new OpenAI models to Copilot, including the thinking GPT o1-preview and o1-mini, designed for more complex computing problems. With expanded AI support, users will be able to switch between AI models within the same session, giving them the flexibility to customize Copilot to suit their needs. It will also give organizations the ability to manage the available AI models for development teams, providing optimal solutions for specific tasks.
GitHub Copilot’s multi-model approach emphasizes that there is no one-size-fits-all AI model; different programming languages and specific developer requirements require flexibility and choice. As GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke noted, the next era of AI-powered code generation will be defined not only by multi-model functionality, but also by the ability to select AI models. The web version of Copilot and Visual Studio Code will be the first to have access to multimodels.
GitHub also announced additional updates to Copilot, including the ability to edit multiple files at once and expanded functionality for Visual Studio Code. In the future, Copilot will gain Xcode support, making it an even more flexible and versatile development tool, streamlining workflows and making it easier to manage projects across multiple platforms.
Along with the Copilot updates, GitHub introduced Spark, a tool for developing natural language-based applications. Unlike traditional development tools, Spark is aimed at users without programming skills, who will be able to create applications using text queries, and developers will have the opportunity to fine-tune them. Spark also supports a multi-model approach and works with AI models from OpenAI, Google and Anthropic. However, the tool is currently only available to a limited number of users as part of early testing, and anyone interested can sign up for a waitlist.
GitHub’s move to a multi-model approach is also sparking interest in Microsoft Copilot, another powerful AI tool built on top of OpenAI and used in Microsoft products. GitHub, acquired by Microsoft in 2018, remains independent to this day, which makes GitHub Copilot’s transition to a multi-model approach possible. However, the question remains whether Microsoft will adapt the multi-model approach for its products aimed at a wider audience, since the demand for multi-model in the enterprise and consumer sectors is different from the demand in the development sector.