The End of GitHub’s Independence? Big Changes at Microsoft

On August 11, 2025, GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke announced he will step down by year-end to launch a new startup. Dohmke, who took the helm in 2021, oversaw record growth — surpassing 1 billion repositories, expanding the community to 150M developers, and scaling GitHub Copilot to 20M+ users worldwide.

In his farewell note “Auf Wiedersehen, GitHub” Dohmke credited the team and community for pushing AI development forward, with Copilot now integrating models from OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic.

GitHub Joins Microsoft’s CoreAI Division

In a strategic shift, Microsoft will not appoint a new GitHub CEO. Instead, GitHub will be folded into its CoreAI division, led by Jay Parikh (former Meta executive). This move places GitHub at the heart of Microsoft’s AI vision, signaling even deeper integration with the company’s enterprise AI stack.

AI Momentum Continues

• GitHub Copilot: Now serving 20M+ developers, embedding AI into coding workflows at unprecedented scale.
• GPT-5 Integration: OpenAI’s newest model can now connect directly to GitHub, Microsoft Teams, and SharePoint tightening the loop between code, collaboration, and AI.

Why This Matters

Under Satya Nadella’s leadership, Microsoft is unifying its developer and AI ecosystems. GitHub’s new position inside CoreAI means faster AI-driven innovation, closer ties to Microsoft’s productivity tools, and potentially even more Copilot-powered experiences.

For developers and organizations, the takeaway is clear, GitHub is no longer just a code repository it’s becoming a central hub in Microsoft’s AI-first strategy.        

Do you see GitHub’s deeper integration into Microsoft as a boost for innovation, or a loss of its independent spirit?