OpenAI Acquires Ona to Supercharge Codex Enterprise AI Agents
OpenAI acquired cloud startup Ona to enable Codex AI agents to run longer, autonomous enterprise tasks independently.
"OpenAI just bought the infrastructure to let AI agents work while you sleep. The era of AI that waits for you is over."
OpenAI has acquired Ona, a cloud infrastructure startup formerly known as Gitpod, to power longer-running AI agent workflows inside its Codex coding assistant. Ona provides secure, pre-configured cloud environments that allow AI agents to access tools, systems, and context without requiring a user to remain active on a single device. Financial terms were not disclosed, and the deal remains subject to customary closing conditions.
Ona, founded in 2019, counts a major U.S. bank, European pharmaceutical companies, and Asian sovereign wealth funds among its enterprise clients. Productive use of Ona's agents among those clients grew 13-fold in 2026. Meanwhile, Codex's weekly active users have surged more than sixfold since the launch of OpenAI's desktop app in February, with knowledge workers now representing roughly one in five users and growing at more than triple the rate of core developers.
The acquisition positions OpenAI to compete more aggressively with Anthropic's Claude Code in the enterprise AI coding market. By integrating Ona's infrastructure, Codex users can delegate multi-hour or multi-day tasks to agents autonomously — a capability that signals a meaningful shift from AI as a tool to AI as an independent worker.
Enterprise teams can soon delegate complex, multi-day coding and operational tasks to Codex agents running in the background — no babysitting required. This accelerates the shift from AI copilots to autonomous AI employees, raising urgent questions about workflow redesign and oversight. Business leaders in finance, pharma, and tech should evaluate how agent-ready their infrastructure and governance policies actually are.
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