GitHub unveils new AI capabilities, bringing Copilot to Apple’s Xcode and beyond 

GitHub helped to kick off the modern era of using AI to build applications with its Copilot technology and now it’s looking to open AI up even more.

At the GitHub Universe conference today, the company rolled out an expansion of its AI-powered development tools. To date, GitHub Copilot has relied on OpenAI’s large language models (LLMs), including OpenAI Cortex in the beginning, to power its technology. Now GitHub is going multi-model. GitHub Copilot now supports multiple AI models, allowing developers to choose between Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet, Google’s Gemini 1.5 Pro and OpenAI’s GPT4o variants. The GitHub Models service which was first announced in August is also growing, providing users with more ways and options to try out LLMs in a model playground.

There is now even more integration with Microsoft’s VS Code integrated development environment (IDE), that enables multi-file editing. Agentic AI is also getting a boost with a series of updates to the GitHub Copilot Workspace service. Going a step further, the new GitHub Spark technology is an attempt to make it even easier to build basic applications quickly in an effort to enable more people to develop applications.  Rounding out the GitHub Universe update is an expansion of Copilot to support the Apple Xcode IDE and the availability of a StackOverflow extension 

“We’re taking the Copilot platform from single-threaded to multi-threaded,” Mario Rodriguez, Chief Product Officer at GitHub told VentureBeat.

What multi-model AI means for GitHub Copilot users

Expanding the available AI models for use with GitHub Copilot provides numerous benefits to enterprises and their developers.

Rodriguez noted that now users will have the ability to choose from different AI models to accomplish their coding tasks, rather than being limited to a single model. He said that just like there is more than one programming language, there are many LLMs to choose from and each has its own benefits.

At launch, developers will still have to choose if they want to use a different model than OpenAI. Rodriguez said that in the future, Copilot may be able to automatically select the most appropriate model for a given task, based on factors like speed and performance, to provide the best results.

Enhanced code editing and review land in the GitHub universe

GitHub is introducing significant improvements to its VS Code integration, including multi-file editing capabilities. The new feature allows developers to instruct Copilot to make changes across multiple files simultaneously, rather than editing each file individually.

A new code review system, currently in private preview and moving to public preview, has received very positive feedback according to GitHub. The system allows teams to configure specific rules and requirements, with Copilot automatically reviewing pull requests based on team-level configurations.

“Code review is the essence of iteration velocity,” Rodriguez noted. “If you’re a developer, and you finish some code, and you have it in code review, and you’re waiting and waiting and waiting for feedback… that’s code sitting there that is not in production. The faster you can get feedback, the better it is.”

GitHub Copilot comes to Apple Xcode 

GitHub is also expanding the reach of Copilot with a series of new options.

While GitHub Copilot has always been integrated with Microsoft’s VS code IDE, it wasn’t available for users of Apple’s Xcode. That’s no longer the case.

“We want Copilot to be everywhere,” Rodriguez said. “So we already have it in JetBrains, in the terminal  and now it’s in Xcode.”

Stack Overflow and GitHub partnership expands with new extensions

Beyond just being available in other developer tools, GitHub wants to be an integrated part of the larger development ecosystem.

A core part of that ecosystem in recent years is the StackOverflow community, where developers ask questions and share tips on development practices. At GitHub Universe, Stack Overflow announced the availability of its GitHub Copilot Extension. The new extension allows developers to get insight from Stack Overflow directly within GitHub Copilot.

Prashanth Chandrasekar, CEO of Stack Overflow, told VentureBeat that AI can help developers work faster, eliminating cycles and freeing up headspace for higher-level work. 

“However, one key caveat to keep in mind: AI can generate code, but it can’t provide the context, history or background on whether that code will fit the need and work as the question asked,” Chandrasekar said. “Our hope is that this extension will be used in a way to help support those looking for highly technical, trusted knowledge with the sources cited to back up what the user is looking for.”

Agentic AI advances with GitHub Copilot Workspaces

GitHub’s Workspace feature, which has already attracted more than 100,000 developers in preview, is receiving significant updates. 

The platform now offers enhanced integration with GitHub.com, including a new pull request experience that allows developers to quickly address code suggestions and resolve issues through an AI-native interface.

Rodriguez explained that the system acts as an orchestration engine, similar to how Kubernetes orchestrates infrastructure for the cloud, but for AI-powered development tools. This allows developers to move seamlessly from idea to implementation using natural language interactions.

GitHub lights a new Spark for software creation

Perhaps the most ambitious announcement is Spark, a new tool aimed at making software development accessible to non-professionals. The platform allows users to quickly create personal applications without extensive coding knowledge.

Unlike traditional low-code or no-code platforms, Spark focuses on enabling personal software creation for joy and creativity. Spark is using the power of Copilot to create the applications. Rodriguez demonstrated this by sharing how he created a math game for his daughter in just five minutes, emphasizing the platform’s accessibility and immediate utility.

“The goal is 1 billion developers,” Rodriguez explained. “By 2030 we might have 10 billion people in the world, wouldn’t it be amazing if we could actually unlock the power of creating software for 1 billion of them?”