Microsoft's $7.5 billion GitHub acquisition in 2018 is being reconsidered as a top tech deal, with GitHub Copilot Enterprise usage nearly tripling year over year.

Microsoft closed the GitHub acquisition for $7.5 billion in October 2018. Since closing, MSFT shares have returned 340%, with the stock at $415.40 as of May 8 and a market cap of roughly $3.08 trillion.

GitHub Copilot (an AI coding assistant) Enterprise is now used by nearly 140,000 organizations, nearly tripled year over year, and GitHub Copilot CLI usage is nearly doubling month over month. On the Q3 FY2026 earnings call, CEO Satya Nadella stated the growth is 'driven by the proliferation of agentic coding' (AI systems that autonomously make decisions and take actions).

GitHub hosts 100 million registered developers and serves as a distribution channel for Microsoft's Azure cloud platform. Azure grew 40% in the quarter, and the $344 billion backlog with non-OpenAI committed revenue growing 28% is cited as evidence of strong cloud demand.

GitHub Copilot will move to usage-based pricing on June 1, 2026, which CFO Amy Hood flagged as Q4 margin pressure but a longer-term revenue accelerator.