San Francisco, CA - Sep 05, 2025 (UTC) - OpenAI has acquired the team behind Alex, a popular AI-powered coding assistant for Apple’s Xcode development environment, in the latest of several strategic acqui-hires by the artificial intelligence company.
The team behind Alex, a popular tool that lets developers use AI models within Apple’s development suite Xcode, is joining OpenAI, according to an announcement made Thursday by the startup’s founder.
In a post on X, Alex’s founder Daniel Edrisian said the startup’s team is joining OpenAI’s Codex division, which is building the company’s AI coding agent.
“When we started out, Xcode had no AI. Building a ‘Cursor for Xcode’ sounded crazy, but we managed to do it anyway. And, over time, we built the best coding agent for iOS & MacOS apps,” Edrisian wrote in his announcement post.
Strategic Timing Amid Market Changes
The acquisition comes at a significant time for the Xcode AI ecosystem. Y Combinator-backed Alex was founded in 2024 and sought to integrate AI models into Xcode. Apple, however, earlier this year updated Xcode to let users tap ChatGPT and other AI models without needing external tools.
The Y Combinator-backed startup had positioned itself as an essential tool for iOS and Swift app development, helping developers streamline workflows and tackle complex coding challenges. However, Apple’s decision to integrate AI capabilities directly into Xcode earlier in 2025 fundamentally changed the competitive landscape.
Continued Support for Existing Users
In a post on Alex’s blog, the startup said that it would continue supporting existing users, though the app will no longer be able to be downloaded after October 1. The company noted that the team won’t add new features to the tool, but would maintain the product as long as existing users are using it.
Alex’s Y Combinator listing notes that the startup had three people working on the coding tool. It is not clear if all these employees are joining OpenAI.
Part of Broader Acquisition Strategy
This acquisition represents the continuation of OpenAI’s aggressive talent acquisition strategy. OpenAI has done a few similar “acquisitions” in the past, hiring only the team behind a startup rather than buying the whole company. The company earlier this week said it was acquiring product testing startup Statsig for $1.1 billion.
The move strengthens OpenAI’s position in the increasingly competitive AI coding assistant market, where it competes with established players like GitHub Copilot, Cursor, and other specialized development tools.
The Alex team’s expertise in iOS and macOS development could prove valuable as OpenAI continues to expand its Codex platform and develop more specialized coding agents for different programming environments and platforms.
OpenAI has not yet responded to requests for comment regarding the acquisition details or integration plans for the Alex team.
