GitHub Copilot: Grok Code Fast 1 Deprecated on May 15, 2026

Grok Code Fast 1 Deprecated in GitHub Copilot

GitHub has announced the deprecation of Grok Code Fast 1 from all GitHub Copilot experiences, with the model being removed on May 15, 2026. The accelerated timeline — announced with only one week's notice — is a direct consequence of xAI, the model provider, retiring the model from their own infrastructure ahead of schedule.

Affected Surfaces

Grok Code Fast 1 will no longer be available across the full range of Copilot experiences:

• Copilot Chat (in VS Code, on github.com, GitHub Mobile, and all supported IDEs)
• Inline edits
• Ask mode and agent mode
• Code completions

Users who had selected Grok Code Fast 1 as their preferred model will need to switch to an alternative. The model will simply disappear from the model picker after May 15 — no manual removal action is required from users.

Recommended Alternatives

GitHub points to GPT-5 mini and Claude Haiku 4.5 as the suggested replacements. Both are well-suited to use cases where Grok Code Fast 1 was valued for its low latency and cost efficiency in fast inline and agentic workflows.

Enterprise Considerations

For organizations using GitHub Copilot Enterprise or Business, administrators may need to act before the May 15 deadline. If alternative models such as GPT-5 mini or Claude Haiku 4.5 have not yet been enabled in the organization's model access policy through Copilot settings, administrators should do so promptly to ensure continuity for their teams. Enterprise customers with questions are encouraged to reach out to their GitHub account manager.

A Contested Partnership Ends

The deprecation closes a chapter on one of GitHub Copilot's more contentious model integrations. When Grok Code Fast 1 was introduced to Copilot in public preview in August 2025, it generated significant criticism from both the developer community and internally at GitHub. The Register reported that GitHub engineers described feeling "coerced" into shipping the integration, with concerns centering on the political associations of xAI's owner. Community threads on GitHub's own forums attracted hundreds of comments from developers opposed to the xAI partnership, and some users reported that disabling the model in their Copilot feature settings was broken — the toggle would immediately revert to enabled.

Despite those concerns, Grok Code Fast 1 became generally available in October 2025 and was later added to Copilot Free auto model selection in March 2026. Its removal — driven by the provider's own infrastructure decision rather than a GitHub product choice — marks the end of Grok's presence in the Copilot ecosystem.