OpenAI has hired the team behind Alex, a developer tool that uses AI models within Apple’s development suite Xcode.

Daniel Edrisian, founder, Alex, said in an X post that the startup's team is joining OpenAI’s Codex division.

Alex, backed by Y Combinator, was founded in 2024 by Edrisian. The three-person startup sought to create a "Cursor for Xcode" when Apple's development suite had no native AI capabilities.

"When we started out, Xcode had no AI. Building a "Cursor for Xcode" sounded crazy, but we managed to do it anyway," said Edrisian.

"Seeing people build software with our work was surreal. It is an honor to continue that work at a much bigger scale at OpenAI," he added.

The developer tools market has become competitive with major players including GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Amazon CodeWhisperer  and Google Bard for Developers.

For OpenAI, the acquisition of Alex fits into its broader strategy of building a comprehensive developer tools ecosystem.

Earlier this month, OpenAI said it plans to acquire Statsig, a startup specializing in product testing tools.