OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is set to acquire open source developer Astral and integrate its tools into the Codex ecosystem.
The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.
In a statement, OpenAI says Astral has built some of the most widely-used open source Python tools, helping developers move faster with modern tooling.
These tools power millions of developer workflows and have become part of the foundation of modern Python development, says OpenAI.
“As part of our developer-first philosophy, after closing [the deal] OpenAI plans to support Astral’s open source products. By bringing Astral’s tooling and engineering expertise to OpenAI, we will accelerate our work on Codex and expand what AI can do across the software development lifecycle,” OpenAI notes.
According to the firm, Codex has already seen three times user growth and five times usage increase since the start of the year, and has over two million weekly active users.
“Our goal with Codex is to move beyond AI [artificial intelligence] that simply generates code and towards systems that can participate in the entire development workflow – helping plan changes, modify codebases, run tools, verify results and maintain software over time. Astral’s developer tools sit directly in that workflow,” OpenAI notes.
It points out that by integrating these systems with Codex after closing the deal, the company will enable AI agents to work more directly with the tools developers already rely on every day.
“Astral has always focused on building tools that transform how developers work with Python – helping them ship better software, faster. As part of Codex, we’ll continue evolving our open source tools to push the frontier of software development,” says Charlie Marsh, founder and CEO of Astral.
OpenAI adds that Python has become one of the most important languages in modern software development, powering everything from AI and data science, to backend systems and developer infrastructure.
It explains that Astral’s open source tools are already widely used across the ecosystem – uv handles dependency and environment management, Ruff provides fast linting and formatting, and ty enforces type safety across codebases.
Together these tools help developers manage projects, enforce quality and catch errors early in the development process, it says.
“With Astral joining OpenAI, we’ll continue to support these open source projects, while exploring ways they can work more seamlessly with Codex – enabling AI systems to operate across the full Python development workflow.”
“Astral’s tools are used by millions of Python developers. By bringing their expertise and ecosystem to OpenAI, we’re accelerating our vision for Codex as the agent most capable of working across the entire software developer lifecycle,” says Thibault Sottiaux, Codex lead at OpenAI.
The closing of the acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of regulatory approval. Until the closing, OpenAI and Astral will remain separate and independent companies.
“After closing, the Astral team will join the Codex team at OpenAI and over time, we’ll explore deeper integrations that allow Codex to interact more directly with the tools developers already use, helping develop Codex into a true collaborator across the development lifecycle. Our goal remains the same: build AI systems that help people create, learn and build faster, and make powerful development tools accessible to more people everywhere. We’re excited to welcome the Astral team to OpenAI after we close,” it concludes.
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