Astral to Join OpenAI
Source: Hacker News
I started Astral to make programming more productive.
From the beginning, our goal has been to build tools that radically change what it feels like to work with Python – tools that feel fast, robust, intuitive, and integrated. Today, we’re taking a step forward in that mission by announcing that we’ve entered into an agreement to join OpenAI as part of the Codex team.
Our Tools and Impact
Over the past few years, our tools have grown from zero to hundreds of millions of downloads per month across:
The Astral toolchain has become foundational to modern Python development. The numbers – and the impact – far exceeded my most ambitious expectations at every step of the way.
Commitment to Open Source
Open source is at the heart of that impact and the heart of our story; it sits at the center of everything we do. In line with our philosophy and OpenAI’s own announcement, OpenAI will continue supporting our open‑source tools after the deal closes. We’ll keep building in the open, alongside our community – and for the broader Python ecosystem – just as we have from the start.
Why AI and Codex
I view building tools as an incredibly high‑leverage endeavor. As I wrote in our launch post three years ago:
“If you could make the Python ecosystem even 1% more productive, imagine how that impact would compound?”
Today, AI is rapidly changing the way we build software, and the pace of that change is only accelerating. If our goal is to make programming more productive, then building at the frontier of AI and software feels like the highest‑leverage thing we can do.
It is increasingly clear to me that Codex is that frontier. By bringing Astral’s tooling and expertise to OpenAI, we’re positioning ourselves to push it forward. After joining the Codex team, we will:
- Continue building our open‑source tools
- Explore ways they can work more seamlessly with Codex
- Expand our reach to think more broadly about the future of software development
Looking Ahead
Through it all, our goal remains the same: to make programming more productive and to build tools that radically change what it feels like to build software.
Acknowledgements
- Astral Team – Thank you for always putting our users first and shipping some of the most beloved software in the world. You’ve pushed me to be a better leader and a better programmer. I’m excited to keep building with you.
- Investors – Special thanks to Casey Aylward from Accel, who led our Seed and Series A, and Jennifer Li from Andreessen Horowitz, who led our Series B. As a first‑time, technical, solo founder, your belief in me meant more than I ever showed in myself.
- Users – Our tools exist because of you. Thank you for your trust. We won’t let you down.