Microsoft caught sneaking "Co-Authored-by Copilot" into VS Code commits - even with AI off

Editor's take

Microsoft's VS Code has been found to append "Co-Authored-by Copilot" metadata to Git commits, irrespective of whether users had explicitly disabled Copilot's AI functionalities. This practice raises immediate concerns about transparency and user control over their contributions, particularly for open-source projects where attribution is paramount. Developers rely on accurate commit logs to understand the provenance of code changes, and this hidden attribution undermines that trust.

The implications extend beyond mere attribution. If Copilot, even when "off," is influencing code in ways that are then attributed, it suggests a deeper integration or background activity than users might expect. This could inadvertently shift the perception of open-source contributions, potentially impacting project maintainers' understanding of their community's involvement and the true authorship of generated code.

Future scrutiny will focus on Microsoft's response and the clarity of their AI feature toggles. It will be crucial to observe whether this practice is rectified with a clear opt-out and whether a more robust audit trail for AI-assisted code generation is implemented across Microsoft's developer tools. The broader AI industry will be watching to see if this incident prompts a wider re-evaluation of how AI tools interface with user workflows and data.