BlockBeats reported that on June 11, OpenAI announced plans to acquire Ona and integrate Ona’s secure cloud execution and orchestration technology into the Codex ecosystem. OpenAI said the acquisition is intended to expand Codex with secure, customer-controlled cloud infrastructure for long-running agents used in software and knowledge work.
Codex usage has grown as tasks extend beyond minutes
According to OpenAI, more than 5 million people now use Codex every week for research, analysis, building, and automation. The company said this represents 400% growth compared with earlier this year. As Codex becomes more capable, OpenAI said its most valuable work is moving from tasks that take minutes to work that can last for hours or days.
OpenAI described Ona’s technology as providing secure and persistent environments where agents can access the tools, systems, and context needed to complete work, while continuing to advance tasks over time. By bringing Ona into the Codex ecosystem, OpenAI aims to move Codex beyond a workflow that depends on a single device or an active session, and toward operation that can continue inside a customer’s cloud environment.
Ona’s developer cloud experience will be brought into Codex
Ona has helped 2 million developers work in secure and reproducible cloud environments. OpenAI said that experience will support the next stage of Codex development, enabling agents to continue running in a customer cloud environment even after a laptop has been closed.
The acquisition is still subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of required regulatory approvals. Until the transaction closes, OpenAI and Ona will continue to operate as independent companies. After completion, the Ona team will join OpenAI and work with the Codex team to advance secure and persistent enterprise-grade execution capabilities.