Is GitHub Copilot Down?

BILLING CUTOVER WENT LIVE (2026-06-01, vendor-primary github.blog/changelog): usage-based billing is now live for all GitHub Copilot users. Each plan ships with monthly included usage; beyond it, requests meter against GitHub AI Credits / token rates. Code completions and Next Edit suggestions stay free. **New Copilot Max tier introduced the same day** -- an upgrade for existing Student/Pro/Pro+ subscribers with higher included usage + higher spending limits. **New signups remain PAUSED for Student, Pro, Pro+, AND the new Max plan** ('we'll reopen sign-ups in the coming weeks'). Copilot code review now also consumes GitHub Actions minutes as of 6/1. Net: the 4/27-announced transition is no longer 'upcoming' -- it is the current state.

MICROSOFT BUILD (2026-06-02): Microsoft's own **MAI-Code-1-Flash** -- a lightweight in-house coding model -- is rolling out to GitHub Copilot individual users in VS Code, in the model picker and under the default auto-picker. Vendor benchmarks vs Claude Haiku 4.5: SWE-Bench Pro 51.2% vs 35.2% (a 16-point lead), solves SWE-Bench Verified problems with up to 60% fewer tokens, and +28.9 on IF Bench (instruction-following). Microsoft frames it as 'better price-to-performance across coding benchmarks.' Significant because it is the first time a first-party Microsoft model is the cost-efficient default inside Copilot rather than an OpenAI or Anthropic model -- part of the broader 'seven new MAI models' Build wave that also includes MAI-Thinking-1 (reasoning), MAI-Image-2.5, MAI-Transcribe-1.5, and MAI-Voice-2.

PRODUCT + MODEL CLUSTER (2026-05-14 → 2026-05-21, 6 vendor changelog entries in 8 days -- highest cadence of the year): (1) **2026-05-14 GitHub Copilot app in technical preview** -- standalone Copilot app outside the editor, paralleling the OpenAI Codex mobile / Cursor / Anthropic 'agent goes where you go' pattern. (2) **2026-05-19 Gemini 3.5 Flash GA inside Copilot** -- same day as Google's I/O 2026 reveal (no aggregator delay; vendor-to-vendor handoff). Added to the Pro+/Business/Enterprise model picker. (3) **2026-05-20 Auto model selection routes by task in VS Code** -- Copilot auto-picks among the lineup based on task type rather than user-pinned default. (4) **2026-05-20 Semantic issue search in Copilot Chat** -- chat queries the issues backlog with semantic understanding (find related, dedupe, surface stale). (5) **2026-05-20 Updates to available models in Copilot on web** -- model-picker parity refresh across surfaces. (6) **2026-05-21 Issue fields public preview** -- organization-wide rollout of issue-field customization. Net effect: 6 customer-facing changelogs in the 8-day window ahead of the 6/1 billing cliff.

MODEL LINEUP REFRESH (2026-05-17 + 2026-05-18): (1) **GPT-5.3-Codex is now the base model for Copilot Business and Enterprise** (vendor-primary github.blog 2026-05-17), replacing GPT-4.1 ahead of its 6/1 retirement. 1x multiplier, included in standard premium-request quotas; meaningfully faster base-tier completions + chat. (2) **Copilot Cloud Agent added two low-multiplier models 2026-05-18**: Claude Haiku 4.5 and GPT-5.4-mini, both at 0.33x multiplier -- positioned as the 'fast, cost-efficient' default for simple cloud agent tasks. Default cloud-agent runs now route to these tiers; users can still override to Sonnet 4.6 / Opus 4.7 / GPT-5.5 for complex work, but the new default cuts per-task spend ~3x. Material change for any team using Copilot agent mode on PR cleanup / test scaffolding -- audit your spend dashboard after 5/18

MODEL RETIREMENT WENT LIVE 2026-05-15: **Grok Code Fast 1 fully removed** from Copilot Chat, inline edits, ask + agent modes, and code completions (the 5/8-announced T-7 cliff landed on schedule, accelerated by xAI's own deprecation that day -- see grok.ts 8-model retirement). Anyone with grok-code-fast-1 pinned in a team config saw failures starting 5/15; replacements are GPT-5 mini or Claude Haiku 4.5. **GPT-4.1 retirement 2026-06-01 still on schedule** (T-13 from today). Joins the GPT-5.2 + GPT-5.2-Codex 6/1 batch already documented, making 6/1 a triple-deprecation cliff

TWO MODEL DEPRECATIONS ANNOUNCED 2026-05-08 (Grok Code Fast 1 was T-7, now PAST-TENSE per 5/15 entry above): (1) **Grok Code Fast 1 retired 2026-05-15** -- accelerated 'due to the model provider deprecation' on xAI's side. Affected Copilot Chat, inline edits, ask + agent modes, code completions. Replacement: GPT-5 mini or Claude Haiku 4.5. (2) **GPT-4.1 retires 2026-06-01** -- joins the GPT-5.2 + GPT-5.2-Codex 6/1 batch. Replacement: GPT-5.5. Adds to the broader 6/1 usage-based-billing transition cliff: by June 1, model lineup loses GPT-5.2, GPT-5.2-Codex, GPT-4.1, AND moves to AI Credits metering simultaneously