OpenAI to Acquire Python Toolmaker Astral, Bolstering AI Coding and Codex

Astral was founded by Charlie Marsh and formally launched on April 18, 2023, with a $4 million seed round led by Accel. Its uv, Ruff and ty products cover Python package management, code linting and formatting, and type safety, respectively, and have become foundational tools in millions of development workflows. OpenAI sees Astral’s technology as a way to expand Codex beyond code generation into planning, validation and maintenance across the development lifecycle.

OpenAI announced its acquisition of Astral on March 19, 2026. Financial terms were not disclosed, and the transaction remains subject to regulatory approval. Once the deal closes, Astral’s team will join OpenAI’s Codex team and continue supporting its open-source products. OpenAI also said Codex had surpassed 2 million weekly active users, triple the level at the start of 2026, while usage had increased fivefold. The company plans to deepen Codex’s integration with uv, Ruff and ty.