Aug 11 (Reuters) - GitHub Chief Executive Thomas Dohmke

said on Monday he will leave the Microsoft ( MSFT )-owned

code-hosting platform to launch a new startup, capping a tenure

that included a major push into artificial intelligence through

the company's Copilot products.

Dohmke, who moved to the U.S. from Germany more than a

decade ago after selling his startup to Microsoft ( MSFT ), said his

"startup roots" prompted the decision.

"I've decided to leave GitHub to become a founder again," he

said in a blog post, but did not provide details about the new

venture.

Before becoming CEO, Dohmke helped lead mobile developer

tools at Microsoft ( MSFT ) and worked on GitHub's acquisition alongside

former CEO Nat Friedman.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) acquired GitHub in a $7.5 billion all-stock deal

in 2018.

More than 150 million developers use GitHub's tools to

build, maintain and collaborate on software projects, according

to the company's website.

Microsoft ( MSFT ) did not immediately respond to a request for

comment on Dohmke's successor. His transition period concludes

at the end of the year.

Dohmke said that under his leadership, GitHub expanded

globally, earned U.S. FedRAMP certification for federal use and

doubled AI projects on the platform.

Axios, which first reported the news, said Microsoft ( MSFT )

developer division head Julia Liuson will oversee

GitHub's revenue, engineering and support.

GitHub's chief product officer, Mario Rodriguez, will report

to head of product for Microsoft's ( MSFT ) AI platform Asha Sharma,

according to the report.