Satya Nadella says rising rivals like Claude and Cursor are a sign Microsoft is on the right track
Satya Nadella has dismissed fears that competitors such as Claude Code and Cursor will overtake GitHub Copilot. Instead, he highlights that the AI coding market expanding from $500 million to over $5 billion matters far more than Copilot’s reduced market share. This photogallery explains his stance and Microsoft’s new strategy for GitHub.
Nadella Shrugs Off the ‘Claude Will Kill Microsoft’ Panic During his conversation on the Dwarkesh Podcast, Satya Nadella addressed claims that rising tools like Cursor and Claude Code could dethrone Microsoft. He laughed at the idea, saying the chart showing GitHub Copilot’s market share drop is encouraging because Microsoft still leads and the market has exploded.
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Market Growth From $500 Million to $5–6 Billion Nadella pointed out that competition has expanded the AI coding category by more than ten times in a single year. Tools from Anthropic, Cursor and OpenAI have helped grow the overall revenue pool, making AI coding a multi-billion-dollar sector. To him, that growth matters far more than percentage share.
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GitHub Shifts to a Platform-First Strategy Microsoft no longer wants GitHub to be defined only by Copilot. At GitHub Universe, the company introduced Agent HQ, a platform that allows any coding assistant, including Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex, to plug into the GitHub ecosystem. This marks a strategic turn towards becoming the hub for all AI coding agents.
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Nadella’s ‘It’s Not Borland’ Moment Responding to claims that new startups could crush Microsoft, Nadella joked that unlike the old days of Borland, today’s competition signals they are heading in the right direction. The presence of strong rivals means the industry is healthy, innovative and growing at a pace Microsoft benefits from.
GitHub’s Built-In Advantage Remains Massive With 180 million developers, GitHub is still the global centre of software development. Nadella said it does not matter which coding assistant generates the code because all of them store their repositories, pull requests and projects on GitHub. One developer joins GitHub every second, reinforcing its dominance.
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Nadella, Expansion Beats Market Share Nadella compared the current shift to the cloud transition, where Microsoft’s margins dropped but its overall business grew massively. His view: as long as the market keeps expanding, Microsoft wins. A rising tide lifts GitHub, Copilot and every other tool under the company’s umbrella.
