OpenAI to expand Codex with Astral acquisition amid AI rivalry

OpenAI has reached an agreement to acquire Astral, a developer of Python programming tools, as it seeks to advance its AI coding platform Codex and address increasing competition from Anthropic. Neither company has disclosed the financial terms of the transaction. Astral’s catalogue of developer tools will be integrated into OpenAI’s Codex system following the completion of the deal. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Astral develops utilities for Python development, including uv, a Python package and projec ...