Microsoft Github Copilot code generator
Released: June 2021
Can you improve this page?
Share your insights with us
Copilot is a cloud-based automated code generation tool launched by software development community Github in June 2021. Initially launched as a limited access 'technical preview', it became available by subscription to developers in June 2022.
Developed in conjunction with OpenAI, Copilot was developed using OpenAI's Codex algorithm, which is based on its GPT-3 language generating algorithm, and trained on publically available source code of different projects in Github repositories.
Copyright 'code laundering'
The response to Copilot has been mixed. Programmers have generally welcomed it, but others have pointed out that Copilot reproduces large chunks of copyrighted code verbatim without attributing their owners, raising questions about 'fair use' and licensing and opening it to accusations of copyright abuse and 'code laundering'.
Lawyers are divided on whether Github and OpenAI's use of public repositories can be considered fair use given Copilot draws extensively on code available under many different types of public license, only some of which require attribution for derivative works.
Class-action lawsuit
In October 2022, programmer and lawyer Matthew Butterick and the Joseph Saveri law firm announced they were launching a class-action lawsuit against Github, Microsoft and OpenAI for training Copilot using open-source code without the permission of its developers or users.
Operator: Microsoft/Github
Developer: Microsoft/Github; OpenAI
Country: USA
Sector: Technology
Purpose: Generate code
Technology: NLP/text analysis
Issue: Copyright; Ethics; Privacy
Transparency: Governance
System
Github (2021). Introducing GitHub Copilot: your AI pair programmer
Legal, regulatory
Joseph Saveri Law Firm. GitHub and Copilot Intellectual Property Litigation
News, commentary, analysis
https://www.wired.com/story/github-commercial-ai-tool-built-open-source-code/
https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/29/22555777/github-openai-ai-tool-autocomplete-code
https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/7/22561180/github-copilot-legal-copyright-fair-use-public-code
https://www.fastcompany.com/90653878/github-copilot-microsoft-openai-coding-tool-backlash
https://thenewstack.io/github-copilot-a-powerful-controversial-autocomplete-for-developers/
https://thenextweb.com/news/github-copilot-ai-copyright-analysis
https://analyticsindiamag.com/why-are-people-criticising-github-copilot/
https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/19/github_copilot_copyright/
Page info
Type: System
Published: July 2021
Last updated: April 2023