GitHub Copilot, an AI coding tool developed by Microsoft-owned GitHub, has surpassed 20 million users, according to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella during the company’s recent earnings call. A GitHub spokesperson confirmed this figure represents all-time users. This marks an increase of 5 million new users in just three months, as the tool had 15 million users reported in April.
Microsoft and GitHub have not disclosed how many of these users engage with GitHub Copilot on a monthly or daily basis, though these numbers are likely significantly lower. The tool, one of the most popular AI coding assistants available, is now used by 90% of Fortune 100 companies. Enterprise adoption has also grown by approximately 75% compared to the previous quarter.
AI coding tools are gaining traction and stand out as one of the few AI products generating substantial revenue. In 2024, Nadella noted that GitHub Copilot had become a larger business than GitHub itself was when Microsoft acquired it in 2018. Since then, its growth has continued to accelerate.
Despite its success, GitHub Copilot’s user base remains small compared to AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini, which attract hundreds of millions of users monthly. However, software engineering is a more specialized field, and developers and their employers appear willing to pay a premium for AI coding assistance. With Microsoft’s extensive enterprise reach and GitHub’s developer ecosystem, GitHub Copilot is well-positioned to dominate the enterprise AI coding market.
Cursor, another leading AI coding tool, is emerging as a competitor to GitHub Copilot in the enterprise space. The company has been acquiring talent from smaller AI startups to strengthen its position. In March, Bloomberg reported that Cursor had over a million daily users, generating around $200 million in annual recurring revenue. By mid-2025, that figure had surged to more than $500 million, indicating significant growth in daily usage.
While GitHub Copilot and Cursor initially targeted different aspects of the developer experience, their offerings are increasingly overlapping. Both have introduced AI agents for code review and bug detection. Additionally, they are developing AI agents to automate programming workflows, allowing developers to delegate tasks entirely. Nadella highlighted GitHub’s strong momentum with AI coding agents during the earnings call.
Beyond Cursor, GitHub faces competition from other well-funded players in the AI coding space. Google, which acquired the leadership of AI coding startup Windsurf, is a notable contender. Cognition, the creator of Devin, later absorbed the remaining Windsurf team. OpenAI and Anthropic are also expanding their AI coding tools, leveraging their proprietary models—Codex and Claude Code, respectively—to compete in this rapidly evolving market.
The AI coding sector is quickly becoming one of the most competitive areas in artificial intelligence, with major players vying for dominance in enterprise adoption.