OpenAI is buying Ona, a German cloud execution startup formerly known as Gitpod, to let its Codex agents keep working after the developer closes the laptop. The company confirmed the deal on its official blog Thursday. Terms weren't disclosed.
The problem Ona solves is mundane but real: most coding agents run locally, so they die when the machine shuts off. Ona's sandboxes stay online in the cloud, which means an agent can grind through a multi-step task over hours or days unattended. Developers can reconnect remotely to check progress, tweak the work, or approve a step.
The pitch for enterprises is the customer-controlled part. Agents run inside an organization's own cloud, with the company keeping control over data, credentials, and logging while OpenAI supplies the model and orchestration. "Agents need more than intelligence; they need a trusted workspace," said Ona CEO Johannes Landgraf, which is roughly what you'd expect a founder to say at acquisition time.
OpenAI announced the deal alongside a growth number: Codex now has more than 5 million weekly active users, up from 3 million in April, per the company's own figures. Ona, founded in Kiel in 2020, says it has supported around 2 million developers, also a self-reported count.
The transaction still needs regulatory approval and customary closing conditions. Once it clears, Ona's team folds into the Codex group at OpenAI.
Bottom Line
Once the deal closes, Ona's cloud sandboxes will let Codex agents run coding tasks unattended for hours or days inside a company's own environment.
Quick Facts
- Startup: Ona, formerly Gitpod, founded in Kiel, Germany in 2020
- Codex weekly active users: 5 million-plus, up from 3 million in April (company-reported)
- Developers supported by Ona: ~2 million (company-reported)
- Deal terms: undisclosed
- Status: subject to regulatory approval; team joins Codex on close
