News Summary

OpenAI has acqui-hired the team behind Alex Codes, a tool that integrates AI models into Apple’s Xcode development suite. Alex, a Y Combinator-backed startup founded in 2024, developed a coding assistant for iOS & MacOS apps that allowed developers to use AI models within Xcode. Daniel Edrisian, the founder of Alex, announced that the team is joining OpenAI’s Codex division, which focuses on building AI coding tools. This strategic move follows Apple’s updates to Xcode, enabling the use of AI models like ChatGPT without external tools, which may have influenced the decision. The app will no longer be available for download after October 1, though existing users will continue to receive support. This is not the first time OpenAI has acquired a team rather than an entire company, as it recently acquired product testing startup Statsig for $1.1 billion.