OpenAI Buys Ona to Boost Codex AI Agents

OpenAI has acquired Ona, formerly Gitpod GmbH, a startup that runs AI agents in cloud-based sandboxes, allowing them to continue working even when developers shut down their local machines. Financial terms were not disclosed. OpenAI plans to integrate Ona's technology into its Codex AI assistant, which has over 5 million weekly users, to enable long-running tasks spanning hours or days. Ona also offers security features including application blocking via cryptographic hashing and restrictions on file system and network access. The Ona team will join the Codex team.