GitHub’s Copilot Enterprise is now generally available at $39 a month

GitHub’s Copilot Enterprise is now generally available at $39 a month

GitHub has introduced Copilot Enterprise, a specialized version of its code completion tool and developer chatbot priced at $39 per month, tailored for large businesses. This version incorporates all features from the existing Business plan but includes additional functionalities essential for bigger teams. The notable addition is the ability to reference an organization's internal code and knowledge base, allowing new developers to seek guidance on specific processes within their organization. Copilot Enterprise is also integrated with Microsoft's Bing search engine, and future updates will enable users to fine-tune Copilot's models based on their team's existing codebase.

One of the primary advantages of Copilot Enterprise is its capacity to help new team members quickly grasp and navigate complex workflows specific to an organization. For instance, a developer can inquire about deploying a container image to the cloud and receive a response tailored to the organization's processes. GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke emphasized that understanding organizational processes is often a hurdle for developers when transitioning between companies, and Copilot can play a crucial role in overcoming these challenges.

The integration with Bing search engine provides users with an avenue to inquire about changes that may have occurred since the model was initially trained. This feature is currently exclusive to the Enterprise version, but GitHub has not ruled out the possibility of extending it to other editions in the future.

Another upcoming feature, fine-tuning, will be available exclusively in the Enterprise version. Companies will have the ability to select a set of repositories in their GitHub organization to fine-tune Copilot's model, leveraging their codebase to generate an optimized model. While this may not be as up-to-date as using embeddings, skills, and agents, Dohmke believes it complements these features, especially for teams working with less common languages or internal libraries.

Reflecting on Copilot's trajectory, Dohmke outlined GitHub's vision of bringing Copilot more seamlessly into developers' existing workflows. The focus is on embedding Copilot where developers already collaborate, making it an integral part of the development process rather than a standalone destination.

Technologically, Copilot currently runs on GPT 3.5 Turbo due to latency requirements. Dohmke indicated that GitHub has updated the model several times since the launch of Copilot Business, showcasing a commitment to ongoing improvements. GitHub's pricing strategy does not follow a model based on the size of models, opting instead to choose the best models for different aspects of the Copilot experience based on specific use cases and optimizations for latency, accuracy, quality of outcome, responsible AI, and security.