OpenAI Acquires Ona (Formerly Gitpod) to Scale Codex Cloud Agents

OpenAI announced June 11, 2026 it will acquire Ona, the Kiel, Germany-based cloud execution startup formerly known as Gitpod, to expand Codex with persistent agent infrastructure.

Codex Growth Metrics

• 5 million+ weekly users (up 400% from earlier in 2026)
• Evolved from developer-only tool to broader knowledge work automation
• Most valuable work now spans hours or days, not minutes

Strategic Rationale

As agentic coding matures, session-based workflows limit enterprise adoption. Ona enables agents to continue working in customer-controlled cloud environments with credential scoping, logging, and security boundaries — addressing production deployment requirements beyond capable models alone.

Deal Status

Financial terms undisclosed. Regulatory approval required. Companies remain separate until closing.

Competitive Context

The acquisition positions OpenAI against Apple (Xcode 27 agentic coding at WWDC), Microsoft (SkillOpt open-source skill optimization), and Anthropic (Claude Code) in the agentic developer tooling race.

Johannes Landgraf (Ona CEO) and Thibault Sottiaux (OpenAI Core Products Lead) quoted in official announcement.