Introduction

In a groundbreaking announcement for developers, the new GPT-4o Copilot has been released in public preview for Visual Studio Code (VS Code) users. This innovative AI model is built on the advanced GPT-4o mini foundation and has been meticulously trained on over 275,000 top-tier public repositories, encompassing more than 30 of the most popular programming languages. Such extensive training is set to supercharge developer productivity by providing more accurate and contextually aware code suggestions.

Key Enhancements

This significant upgrade comes straight from a detailed changelog post on the GitHub blog, highlighting key enhancements that set the GPT-4o Copilot apart. With access to a rich dataset of high-quality code, the model ensures that code completions are not just more precise but also contextually relevant. Developers will experience faster and more efficient code suggestion generation, significantly streamlining their workflow across various development projects.

Getting Started with GPT-4o Copilot

To get started with GPT-4o Copilot in VS Code, users simply need to navigate to the Copilot menu located in the title bar of VS Code. By selecting "Configure Code Completions," they can easily switch to the GPT-4o model through the "Change Completions Model" option. For those who prefer shortcuts, using the Command Palette to select "GitHub Copilot: Change Completions Model" is another seamless way to make the switch.

Accessibility and Limitations

It's noteworthy that for users of Copilot Business and Enterprise, administrators will need to activate Editor preview features within the Copilot policy settings on GitHub to allow access to this powerful new model. Meanwhile, free users can also benefit, although accessing the model will count towards their monthly limit of 2,000 free completions. Furthermore, the GPT-4o Copilot model is set to extend its capabilities to JetBrains Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), broadening its accessibility for developers across platforms.

Integration with JetBrains IDEs

In JetBrains IDEs, users can easily adjust their settings by clicking the icon in the status bar and navigating to "Languages & Frameworks > GitHub Copilot" to select their preferred model from a dropdown menu.

Competitive Landscape

During the Tech Insights 2025 Week 9 newsletter, Johan Sanneblad, CEO & Co-founder at ToeknTek, shed light on the competitive landscape, stating that GitHub Copilot is rapidly closing the gap with Cursor IDE, which currently boasts custom models. With just a couple of features left to implement—specifically, prompt caching for improved performance and a local model for code merging—Sanneblad believes Copilot will rival Cursor IDE and will be particularly valuable to Java and C# developers.

Next Edit Suggestions Feature

Additionally, GitHub Copilot has recently introduced a groundbreaking feature called Next Edit Suggestions, which anticipates and recommends logical modifications based on the context of code changes. This takes code editing to another level, as it can identify possible changes throughout an entire file and suggest insertions, deletions, and replacements. Developers can streamline their operations and save time by navigating these suggestions with the Tab key.

Conclusion

It’s crucial to note that switching models does not influence the AI model used by Copilot Chat. The data collection and usage policies remain consistent regardless of the selected model, ensuring a transparent user experience while allowing developers to focus on what truly matters: writing great code.

This latest release reaffirms GitHub Copilot's commitment to enhancing coding efficiency and providing some of the most powerful tools available for developers today. Don't miss out on the future of coding; check out GPT-4o Copilot today!