Weekly AI & Tech News Roundup: July 8–14, 2025

Here’s your roundup of the most significant news and updates in AI, technology, and developer tools from July 8 to July 14, 2025.

GitHub Copilot & Developer Tools

Model Context Protocol (MCP) support in VS Code is generally available: GitHub Copilot in VS Code now supports Model Context Protocol (MCP) in production environments, allowing integration with external tools and data sources for enhanced productivity. This enables developers to access broader context and automate tasks more effectively.
Copilot coding agent now supports remote MCP servers: The GitHub Copilot coding agent can now connect to remote MCP servers, significantly expanding its context beyond local environments and improving interactions with diverse external systems.

Start and track GitHub Copilot coding agent sessions from Visual Studio Code: Developers can now delegate coding tasks to Copilot and let it work in the background while focusing on other aspects of their projects, enhancing productivity through parallel workflows.
GitHub Copilot coding agent now uses one premium request per session: Starting July 10th, GitHub Copilot Coding Agent sessions require exactly one premium request per session, providing predictable pricing and addressing community feedback about cost transparency.

New Copilot Chat features now generally available on GitHub: Copilot Chat features including instant previews, flexible editing options, issue management, enhanced attachments, and improved model selection are now generally available on github.com.

VS Code June 2025 (version 1.102): New GitHub Copilot Chat features in VS Code include open-source contributions, custom project instructions, custom chat modes for specific tasks, and general availability of MCP support, along with improved editor experiences.

LlmTornado - Build AI agents and multi-agent systems in minutes with one .NET toolkit: A new open-source .NET library (MIT licensed) designed for AI developers, offering provider-agnostic support for various AI models, first-class local deployment options, multi-agent orchestration, and integration with Microsoft’s Semantic Kernel.

Fraim - an OSS framework to easily build your own AI Workflows: A new open-source framework specifically designed for security and platform teams to build AI-driven workflows for secure code analysis, featuring built-in Git integration and prebuilt scanning workflows.

Code review in the age of AI: Why developers will always own the merge button: Explores the evolving role of code review in AI-assisted development, emphasizing that human oversight remains crucial even as AI tools become more sophisticated.
Beyond prompt crafting: How to be a better partner for your AI pair programmer: Practical guidance on improving collaboration with AI coding assistants, moving beyond simple prompt engineering to more effective partnership strategies.

You’re probably using Copilot the wrong way: Community discussion on optimizing GitHub Copilot usage patterns and avoiding common pitfalls that reduce productivity.
Agent getting stuck while reading terminal commands - add this to your rules: Technical troubleshooting advice for resolving common issues with GitHub Copilot’s terminal integration and command processing.

Reasoning reimagined: Introducing Phi-4 mini flash reasoning: Microsoft Research introduces Phi-4 mini, a new AI model focused on enhanced reasoning capabilities, demonstrating improvements in logical problem-solving and mathematical reasoning tasks.

I can’t add the Sonnet 4 model: Community discussion about accessing premium AI models in GitHub Copilot, highlighting configuration challenges and solutions for model selection.
Question About the Premium Models: Technical guidance on understanding and configuring premium model access in GitHub Copilot for enhanced AI capabilities.

Stay tuned for more updates and in-depth coverage of the latest in developer technologies and AI-powered coding tools!