GitHub Copilot is the first real product based on large language models

Since GPT-2, there has been much excitement around the applications of large language models. And in the past few years, we've seen LLMs used for many exciting tasks, such as writing articles, designing websites, creating images, and even writing code. But as I have argued before, there's a wide gap between showing a new technology do something cool and using the same technology to create a successful product with a workable business model. Microsoft, I think, just launched the first real LLM product with the public release of GitHub Copilot last week. This is an application that has a strong product/market fit, has immense added value, is hard to beat, is cost-efficient, has very strong distribution channels, and can become a source of great profit.