- Microsoft has embraced models from rival AI firms, bringing Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Gemini 1.5 Pro to GitHub Copilot.
- Earlier, GitHub Copilot in VS Code had access to OpenAI's models, apart from other open-source models.
- The development suggests that Microsoft can shake hands with competitors, overlooking its close partner OpenAI, to maintain the lead in the AI race.
We recently reported that the Microsoft – OpenAI relationship is facing tension over the delayed sharing of AI advancements with the Redmond giant. And now, Microsoft has announced that GitHub Copilot, which used OpenAI’s GPT-4o model earlier, will have access to models from rival firms such as Anthropic and Google.
Microsoft is bringing Anthropic’s state-of-the-art Claude 3.5 Sonnet and Google’s Gemini 1.5 Pro models to GitHub Copilot in VS Code. In addition, Microsoft says OpenAI’s new o1-preview and 01-mini models are available now. The company calls it, “bringing developer choice to GitHub Copilot…”
The move is widely viewed as Microsoft’s effort to reduce its reliance on OpenAI for future AI advancements. By partnering with Anthropic and Google, Microsoft has made it clear that it’s ready to shake hands with rival AI startups if the need arises.
Earlier this year, Microsoft invested in Mistral AI and signed a multi-year deal. By the way, Claude 3.5 Sonnet is hailed as the best AI model for coding, and even Cursor, the VS Code competitor uses Claude 3.5 Sonnet by default.
It means that OpenAI is lagging behind Anthropic in offering the best AI coding assistance. In fact, The Information recently reported that OpenAI’s internal benchmarks found that its models were behind Anthropic’s models for coding tasks. OpenAI is reportedly under pressure to come up with a better model for AI coding assistance.
Besides that, Microsoft has introduced a new feature called GitHub Spark in VS Code to build entire applications in natural language. It can develop apps and you can see live preview as it’s built. Microsoft is also under immense pressure to deliver the best AI coding experience in VS Code. Cursor has quickly become quite popular among developers for delivering the best AI coding experience.
So VS Code is also getting multi-file editing, tab completion, code review, autofix, rules configuration, and more. Interestingly, Microsoft is releasing GitHub Copilot code completion for Xcode too.
