OpenAI acquires Ona to enable Codex AI agents to run complex, long-term tasks in the cloud

OpenAI to acquire Ona to support its AI coding assistant, Codex

OpenAI on Thursday announced it will acquire Ona, a startup that provides secure, pre-configured cloud environments where artificial intelligence agents can access tools, systems and context. Ona's technology will allow OpenAI's coding assistant, Codex, to take on longer-running tasks, OpenAI said. It will also help more organizations deploy agents, which independently complete tasks on behalf of a user, into production, the company said. OpenAI did not disclose the terms of the acquisition, which is still subject to customary closing conditions. Ona's staff will join OpenAI and work on the Codex team once the deal is closed. "I always thought selling the company would feel like an ending. Instead, it feels like our life's work just got bigger and more important," Ona CEO Johannes Landgraf wrote in a post on LinkedIn. OpenAI kickstarted the AI boom with the launch of its ChatGPT chatbot in 2022, and it's been pouring investment into Codex in recent months as software developers have embraced AI agents as part of their workflows. It's racing against its chief rival, Anthropic, which has experienced a period of explosive growth over the last year, driven in part by the popularity of its own AI coding assistant, Claude Code.

OpenAI acquires Ona to make Codex enterprise-ready

The deal hands OpenAI a German-built platform for "customer-controlled execution". The real prize is trust, as it races Anthropic for the enterprise. OpenAI acquires Ona, the company once known as Gitpod, in its latest enterprise play. The deal, announced on Thursday, folds Ona's secure cloud platform into Codex, OpenAI's coding agent. Terms were not disclosed. Codex is on a tear. OpenAI says more than 5 million people now use it each week, up 400 per cent since early this year. AI coding agents have gone mainstream, with one vibe-coding startup reaching $500m in revenue. The work Codex does is also getting longer, stretching from minutes to hours or days. Why OpenAI acquires Ona, and what it buys Long jobs need somewhere to run. Ona provides secure, persistent cloud environments where an agent keeps working after the developer closes the laptop. Modernising a codebase or patching a class of vulnerabilities no longer stops when the human logs off. The real prize is control, not raw speed. Ona's "customer-controlled execution" lets agents run inside a company's own cloud. OpenAI supplies the intelligence; the customer keeps the data, the credentials, and the audit trail. That is a trust pitch aimed straight at nervous IT departments. "Agents need more than intelligence; they need a trusted workspace," said Ona co-founder and chief executive Johannes Landgraf. A European startup, absorbed Ona is not new. It began as Gitpod, a German developer-tools company that moved coding off local machines and into the cloud. It says it has served 2 million developers. It rebranded to Ona in late 2025 and rebuilt itself around AI agents. Now it joins a US giant. "I always thought selling the company would feel like an ending," Landgraf wrote on LinkedIn. "Instead, it feels like our life's work just got bigger." The fight is with Anthropic This is an enterprise land grab. OpenAI is racing Anthropic, whose Claude Code helped drive a year of explosive growth. Both want to be the agent that big companies trust with production systems. The timing is loaded. OpenAI filed confidentially for an IPO on Monday, days after Anthropic did the same. Both now warn about AI risk even as they sprint to list. Codex revenue, and enterprise credibility, feed an investor story too. Ona is also one buy in a spree. OpenAI has lately picked up the cybersecurity startup Promptfoo and, last year, Jony Ive's $6bn hardware venture, io. Each plugs a gap. This one plugs the gap that matters most for selling agents: running them where customers feel safe. The deal still needs regulatory approval. Until it closes, the two stay separate. But the direction is clear. OpenAI wants Codex everywhere serious work happens, and it just bought the plumbing to get there.

OpenAI acquires AI agent orchestration startup Ona

OpenAI Group PBC today announced plans to acquire Ona, a startup with a platform for managing long-running artificial intelligence agents. The terms of the deal were not disclosed. Developers often run the AI agents they use to write code on their local machines. When a workstation is turned off, the AI agents that it runs end their work. That limits their ability to perform long-running tasks spanning multiple days. Ona, officially Gitpod GmbH, provides a platform that enables AI agents to run in cloud-based sandboxes. Ona sandboxes remain online when the developers who use them shut down their workstations, which means AI agents' work is not interrupted. The company says that its software also provides other benefits. The cloud offers access to more computing resources than a developer workstation, which enables agents to complete tasks quicker. Additionally, Ona deletes the sandboxes in which it runs AI agents when they're no longer needed. Local AI agent environments aren't always deleted as promptly, which increases the risk of data theft. Administrators can configure an Ona sandbox to prevent agents from accessing risky programs. According to the company, its platform can block a malicious application even if hackers rename it, move it to a different file path or hide it in a script. The software detects obfuscation attempts using a method called hashing. It generates a hash, or unique cryptographic signature, for every program that administrators wish to block. The signature enables Ona to identify a blocked application even if parameters such as its file name change. The company's platform also includes other security guardrails. It can prevent AI agents from accessing parts of the file system that contain sensitive credentials such as encryption keys. According to Ona, the software also blocks outbound connections to potentially malicious servers. OpenAI will use the company's technology to enhance its Codex AI assistant. Codex launched last year with a focus on speeding up software development projects. This month, OpenAI added upgrades that make the tool better at non-technical tasks such as creating ad visuals. The company says that Codex has more than five million weekly users. According to OpenAI, Ona will improve Codex's ability to perform long-running tasks that take hours or days. In particular, it will enable users to review the work of agents and provide input when necessary. The Ona team will join the Codex team to help OpenAI implement the upgrades. The deal comes three months after the ChatGPT developer's previous acquisition. OpenAI bought Promptfoo Inc. in March to enhance the cybersecurity features of its OpenAI Frontier platform, which enables companies to build custom AI agents. Promptfoo developed a set of tools that can detect and fix vulnerabilities in AI applications.

OpenAI to acquire Ona to strengthen Codex cloud capabilities

OpenAI is set to acquire Ona, a cloud execution firm. This move will boost OpenAI's Codex platform, enabling AI agents to run complex, long-term tasks in secure cloud environments. The acquisition aims to support growing Codex usage and help enterprises deploy AI in production. Ona's team will join OpenAI post-deal. OpenAI has announced plans to acquire Ona, a cloud execution and orchestration company, as it looks to expand the capabilities of its Codex platform and support more advanced, long-running artificial intelligence (AI) workloads. The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approvals, will bring Ona's technology into OpenAI's systems, enabling AI agents to operate in secure, persistent cloud environments instead of being limited to a single session or device. The move comes as Codex usage grows rapidly. OpenAI said more than 5 million people now use the platform weekly, up 400% since earlier this year, for tasks such as coding, research and workflow automation. As these use cases become more complex, tasks increasingly run over longer periods. OpenAI said Ona's technology allows such work to continue in the background, even when users are offline, by providing agents with access to tools, data and systems over time. Ona has previously supported around 2 million developers with cloud-based development environments, according to the company. Its model allows organisations to run workloads within their own cloud infrastructure, maintaining control over data, access and compliance requirements. OpenAI said this will help enterprises move from experimenting with AI tools to deploying them in production environments, where security and governance are critical. The companies will continue to operate independently until the deal closes. Once completed, Ona's team is expected to join OpenAI and work on scaling Codex for enterprise use.

OpenAI Buys Cloud Execution Startup To Scale Agent Workloads - Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

OpenAI has acquired cloud-based developer Ona to power Codex with secure, customer-controlled cloud infrastructure for long-running AI agents that can continue working across devices and sessions even after a browser is closed or a computer is shut down. The ChatGPT parent company said the integration will allow Codex to complete tasks that could take hours or days in minutes, while also making it easier for organizations to deploy agents in production with stronger visibility and oversight. Ona, which has helped shift software development workflows into cloud-based environments and supports more than 2 million developers, already shares customers with OpenAI. The company added that this requires clear control over deployment environments, system access, credential boundaries, activity logging, and the review process for how work is executed and approved. "Agents need more than intelligence; they need a trusted workspace," Ona co-founder and Chief Executive Johannes Landgraf said in a statement. "We built Ona to give agents cloud environments with the context, control and collaboration enterprises require. Joining OpenAI lets us bring that foundation into Codex, helping organizations deploy agents with confidence and giving humans more agency over their work." The acquisition comes as Codex expands beyond its roots as a coding assistant into a broader platform for research, analysis, automation and software development. OpenAI said Codex now has more than 5 million weekly users, a 400% increase from earlier this year. The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, and the companies will continue operating independently until the deal is completed. What's Next After the acquisition closes, Ona's team will join OpenAI and work alongside the Codex group to build secure, persistent execution capabilities for enterprise customers. OpenAI said it is pleased to bring the Ona team on board. Together, the two companies aim to help engineering teams take on long-running software tasks more safely and effectively across the full lifecycle -- from running tests and fixing issues to modernizing applications, patching vulnerabilities, and managing complex workflows over time. This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs To add Benzinga News as your preferred source on Google, click here.

OpenAI Plans Ona Purchase to Transform Coding Agents | PYMNTS.com

The addition of Ona's technology, which enables agents to access the tools, systems and context they need to complete work over time, will allow Codex users to delegate work that may take hours or days to the coding agent without being tied to a single device or active session, OpenAI said in a Thursday (June 11) press release. "Ona will help us make Codex easier to deploy securely across production workflows for customers operating at the highest standards of trust and scale," OpenAI Core Products Lead Thibault Sottiaux said in the release. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, according to the release. Ona Co-founder and CEO Johannes Landgraf said Thursday blog post that the planned acquisition will give Ona a scale of research and distribution that it could not achieve alone. He added that together, the companies will make AI accessible, abundant and safe. "Together, we can help enterprises move AI work beyond individual coding sessions tied to a single laptop, toward cloud-based workflows across software and knowledge work, accessible from any laptop, phone or tablet," Landgraf said. "In these workflows, agents take on real work and carry it forward inside secure cloud environments with the right access, context, tools and state, under the enterprise's control." OpenAI said in its press release that the number of people using Codex has increased by 400% since the beginning of the year and surpassed 5 million. PYMNTS reported June 2 that the company is expanding the uses of Codex for fields beyond software engineering by rolling out new plugins for the agent that are designed for jobs in public equity investment, banking and sales, with plans to add features related to legal, marketing strategy and corporate finance. "Codex started as a tool for software development, but it's increasingly useful for more kinds of work," OpenAI said at the time in a press release. "Non-developers, including analysts, marketers, operators, designers, researchers, investors and bankers, make up about 20% of overall Codex users and are growing more than three times as fast as developers." OpenAI Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar told CNBC in January that she expects the share of OpenAI's business that is made up of enterprise customers to increase from 40% to 50% by the end of the year. For all PYMNTS AI coverage, subscribe to the daily AI Newsletter.

OpenAI to acquire Ona to boost AI agent cloud services - Bloomberg By Investing.com

Investing.com -- OpenAI has agreed to acquire Ona, a startup that provides cloud services for artificial intelligence agents, as the company works to expand its business applications, Bloomberg reported. The deal has not yet closed. Ona's team will join OpenAI's Codex effort, the company is set to announce Thursday. More than 5 million people use OpenAI's Codex AI coding tools each week. Ona's services provide secure, persistent environments where agents can access the tools, systems, and context they need to make progress over time, according to OpenAI. OpenAI is competing with Anthropic PBC to develop and sell advanced AI systems for business customers. Both startups have filed draft paperwork to go public and are considering Wall Street debuts as soon as this fall. The financial terms of the Ona acquisition were not disclosed. This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

OpenAI to acquire Ona and the deal can be beneficial for Codex users, here is how

Once the acquisition is done, Ona's team will join OpenAI and work alongside the Codex team. OpenAI has announced plans to acquire Ona, a company that builds secure cloud-based development environments. The deal aims to make OpenAI's AI-powered coding and automation platform,Codex, more useful. Codex has grown rapidly in recent months. OpenAI says more than 5 million people now use the platform every week, a 400 percent increase compared to earlier this year. According to OpenAI, the way people use Codex is changing. Instead of completing jobs in a few minutes, users are increasingly asking AI agents to work on projects that can take hours or even days. "We believe people should be able to delegate more ambitious work without remaining tied to the machine where it began," OpenAI said in a blogpost. Also read: Why Apple says Siri and Apple Intelligence will not chase AI trends This is where Ona's technology comes in. "Ona will help us do that. Its technology provides secure, persistent environments where agents can access the tools, systems, and context they need to make progress over time," the AI company said. "By bringing Ona to OpenAI, we will expand Codex beyond work tied to a single device or active session and help more organisations deploy agents securely in production." Ona has helped around 2 million developers work in secure and reproducible cloud environments. OpenAI believes that expertise will help improve Codex. "That experience is directly relevant to the next phase of Codex, enabling agents to continue working inside a customer's cloud environment even when laptops are closed," it said. As businesses move from testing AI agents to deploying them in real-world operations, security and control become important. OpenAI says organisations need to know where AI agents are running, what systems they can access, how credentials are managed, and how activity is monitored. Also read: OpenAI sued after ChatGPT allegedly urged woman toward suicide, complaint claims "Ona's customer-controlled execution model will allow agents to operate inside an organisation's own cloud environment," OpenAI said. This means companies will be able to keep greater control over their infrastructure, data and security while still using Codex's AI capabilities. The acquisition is still subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions. Until the deal is completed, OpenAI and Ona will continue operating as separate companies. Once the acquisition is done, Ona's team will join OpenAI and work alongside the Codex team.