GitHub Copilot, the AI-powered coding assistant offered by Microsoft-owned GitHub, has now reached more than 20 million users, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced during the company’s recent earnings call. This figure represents “all-time users,” according to a GitHub spokesperson.
Rapid User Growth and Enterprise Adoption
In the past three months alone, five million new users have tried GitHub Copilot, up from 15 million reported in April 2025. While Microsoft and GitHub do not disclose active monthly or daily users, these figures are likely lower. The AI tool is currently used by 90% of the Fortune 100 companies, and its adoption among enterprise customers grew about 75% compared to last quarter.
AI coding assistants like GitHub Copilot are among the few AI products generating significant revenue. Nadella revealed that in 2024, Copilot’s business surpassed the entire GitHub business as it existed when Microsoft acquired it in 2018. Despite this growth, AI coding tools have smaller user bases than widely used AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and Gemini, which attract hundreds of millions monthly. This difference reflects the more specialized nature of software engineering.
Competition and Innovation in AI Coding
Competitors like Cursor are aggressively challenging GitHub Copilot’s dominance. Cursor reportedly had over a million daily users in March 2025 and has grown its annual recurring revenue from $200 million to over $500 million since then. Both GitHub and Cursor are developing AI agents to review code, detect bugs, and automate workflows—expanding beyond simple code completion to more complex tasks.
Other players entering the market include Google, which acquired the AI coding startup Windsurf’s leadership team; Cognition with its Devin AI; and OpenAI and Anthropic, developing their own AI coding models, Codex and Claude Code, respectively.
Author’s Opinion
The rapid growth and fierce competition in AI coding tools indicate a fundamental shift in how software is developed. These tools won’t replace developers but will augment their capabilities, making coding more efficient and less error-prone. Companies investing heavily in AI coding infrastructure today are positioning themselves to lead tomorrow’s software innovation landscape.
Featured image credit: Rubaitul Azad via Flickr
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