GitHub’s parent company Microsoft is seeing big growth in the generative AI business, as the company’s CEO, Satya Nadella, told Wall Street that the company’s paying customers for its GitHub Copilot software rose by 40% in the September quarter from the prior quarter.

“We have over 1 million paid copilot users in more than 37,000 organizations that subscribe to copilot for business,” said Nadella, “with significant traction outside the United States.” Building on the existing global user base, the platform has made new major AI announcements at ongoing annual GitHub conference — Universe 2023. 

In the official statement announcing the launch, Thomas Dohmke, CEO, GitHub, said: “In March, we shared our vision of a new future of software development with Copilot X, where AI infuses every step of the developer lifecycle. Our vision has manifested itself into a new reality for the world’s developers.” He further stated, “Just as GitHub was founded on Git, today we are re-founded on Copilot.”

Here are 10 AI update made at GitHub Universe 2023: 

Copilot Chat

With GitHub’s latest Copilot Chat, the platform is making natural language the go-to programming language for developers. Now you can debug and find errors with ease, just by chatting.

The chatbot powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4 will be generally available in December 2023. Apart from users who have a GitHub Copilot subscription it will also be available to verified teachers, students, and maintainers of popular open source projects for free.

Slash Commands and Context Variables 

Fixing or improving code has never been easier! GitHub introduces slash commands and context variables, making tasks like code fixes and test generation a breeze with simple commands like /fix and /tests.

Inline Chat Integration

Say hello to the new inline Copilot Chat, enabling developers to discuss specific lines of code seamlessly within their coding flow and editor.

One-Click Actions

GitHub’s Copilot now offers powerful shortcuts with just a click! Speed up your development process with smart actions that streamline tasks like fixing suggestions, reviewing pull requests, and generating responses.

JetBrains Suite Integration

Copilot Chat will be soon available in the JetBrains suite of IDEs, making it easier for users to access AI-powered assistance directly within their preferred coding environment.

The feature is available to preview starting today. 

Chat on Mobile App and GitHub.com

GitHub is bringing Copilot Chat to their mobile app, ensuring that developers can access its powerful features even while on the move, enhancing their coding experience anytime, anywhere.

The bot will also be available on Github.com combined with the power of GitHub’s advanced code search, GitHub is enabling Copilot Chat to understand and help with the latest changes to popular open source projects.

Copilot Enterprise

GitHub Copilot initially boosted developers’ speed by 55% as an IDE autocomplete function. Now, GitHub is introducing Copilot for Enterprise which will help teams in codebase orientation, documentation creation, personalized suggestions, and swift pull request reviews. 

The feature will be generally available from February 2024 at $39 USD per user monthly.

GitHub Copilot Partner Program

GitHub is teaming up with over 25 leading partners, including Datastax, LaunchDarkly, Postman, Hashicorp, and Datadog, to expand Copilot’s capabilities and create an ecosystem of AI-driven coding solutions.

AI-Powered Security 

GitHub Copilot employs an LLM-based security system, detecting and hampering insecure code patterns, like hardcoded credentials and SQL injections. Henceforth, GitHub’s Advanced Security will feature AI-powered tools to uncover and mitigate vulnerabilities and sensitive data in code, for upgraded application security.

GitHub Copilot Workspace 

GitHub Next’s research team has introduced the AI-driven GitHub Copilot Workspace, to facilitate idea translation into code for developers. This upcoming platform signifies GitHub’s exploration of software development. 

Set for a 2024 launch, Copilot Workspace will enable seamless code creation through natural language and AI.