OpenAI has acquired Ona, a German startup founded in 2020 in Kiel, to enhance its Codex product for long-running, autonomous coding tasks. The acquisition aims to provide persistent, customer-controlled work environments for developers. According to OpenAI, Codex is used by more than 5 million people per week, a 400 percent increase from the beginning of the year. This move is intended to allow Codex to continue tasks over hours or days, even when the user's laptop is closed. The agents will run in each company's own cloud, while OpenAI provides the models and orchestration. Ona CEO Johannes Landgraf emphasized that agents need 'more than intelligence,' they need a 'trusted workplace.'
The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and targets competition with Anthropic, whose Claude Code is considered the leader for long-running coding tasks. Just in March, OpenAI had brought the Python tools uv and Ruff into the Codex ecosystem through its acquisition of Astral, while it, like Anthropic, is taking its first steps toward an IPO. This strategy reflects OpenAI's ongoing efforts to strengthen its position in the AI development landscape.
OpenAI announced the acquisition, highlighting its focus on expanding Codex's capabilities. The integration of Ona's technology is expected to improve the functionality and usability of Codex for developers. The acquisition underscores OpenAI's commitment to advancing AI tools for software development. The company has been actively acquiring other firms to bolster its offerings in the competitive AI market.
Source: thedecoder
