GitHub Copilot, Microsoft's AI-powered coding assistant, has reached a significant milestone of 20 million all-time users, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella revealed during the company's recent earnings call.
This rapid growth represents an addition of 5 million new users in just the past three months, as GitHub had reported 15 million users in April. The AI tool's adoption continues to accelerate across both individual developers and enterprise environments, with Microsoft confirming that 90% of Fortune 100 companies now use GitHub Copilot. Enterprise customer growth has surged approximately 75% compared to the previous quarter.
The tool's popularity stems from its demonstrated impact on developer productivity. According to GitHub's research, developers using Copilot complete tasks up to 55% faster than those working without it. In controlled studies, developers with Copilot access completed assignments in about 1 hour and 11 minutes compared to 2 hours and 41 minutes for those without the tool.
Beyond speed improvements, Copilot significantly enhances developer satisfaction. Between 60-75% of users report feeling more fulfilled with their jobs and less frustrated when coding. In enterprise environments, the satisfaction rates are even higher, with 90% of developers at Accenture reporting greater job fulfillment when using Copilot.
Despite its dominance, Copilot faces growing competition in the AI coding assistant market. Amazon's CodeWhisperer has gained traction, particularly among AWS-focused developers, offering specialized knowledge of AWS services and security best practices. Other competitors include Codeium, Cursor, and offerings from Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic.
The success of GitHub Copilot highlights the transformative impact of AI on software development. Nadella noted that GitHub Copilot now generates more revenue than GitHub did when Microsoft acquired it in 2018, underscoring both its commercial success and the growing demand for AI-powered development tools.