OpenAI to acquire Ona as Codex usage climbs 400% and agents move into long-running cloud workflows
OpenAI plans to integrate Ona’s cloud infrastructure into Codex so AI agents can continue working for hours or days beyond a single device session
OpenAI has agreed to acquire cloud development infrastructure company Ona as it prepares Codex for longer-running agent workflows across software development and knowledge work.
The proposed acquisition will bring Ona’s secure cloud execution and orchestration technology into Codex. OpenAI said this will allow agents to continue working for hours or days inside persistent cloud environments rather than remaining tied to a single device or active session.
The deal comes as weekly Codex usage passes five million people, representing a 400% increase from earlier in 2026. OpenAI said users are applying Codex to research, analysis, software development and workplace automation.
Ona’s technology will give Codex agents access to the tools, systems and context needed to continue work over time, including when a user’s laptop is closed. Organizations will be able to run agents inside their own cloud environments while retaining control over infrastructure, data and security boundaries.
The acquisition remains subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions. OpenAI and Ona will continue operating independently until the deal closes, after which Ona Co-Founder and CEO Johannes Landgraf and the company’s team are expected to join OpenAI’s Codex organization.
Codex moves beyond active sessions
Codex began as an AI tool for software developers but is now being used for a broader mix of technical and knowledge-based work, according to OpenAI.
The company is developing Codex to handle assignments from an initial request through to a finished result, including work that may take substantially longer than a standard user session.
Sarah Friar, Chief Financial Officer at OpenAI, wrote in a LinkedIn post: "Today we announced that OpenAI will acquire @Ona, bringing secure cloud infrastructure into Codex so agents can keep working for longer — over hours or days, not just minutes."
She added: "A lot of agent work today still depends on a single device or active session. Ona will help change that, giving Codex secure, persistent environments where agents can access the tools, systems, and context they need, even when laptops are closed."
The planned infrastructure would allow users to check progress, provide further direction, make decisions and review results from different locations while an agent continues working.
OpenAI identified running tests, resolving software issues, addressing vulnerabilities, modernizing applications and completing complex workflows as examples of sustained work that Codex could undertake through Ona’s infrastructure.
Customer-controlled environments for enterprise agents
Ona has spent several years helping software developers move development work from local machines into reproducible cloud environments.
OpenAI said Ona’s technology has supported two million developers and is already used by some organizations that also work with OpenAI.
The acquisition will add a customer-controlled execution model to Codex. Under that approach, an agent will operate inside the customer’s cloud environment, while OpenAI supplies the models and orchestration used to direct the work.
Organizations will be able to control where agents run, which systems they can access, how credentials are limited, what activity is logged and when work is sent for human review.
OpenAI is targeting companies moving from small agent trials into production use, where security, governance and operational controls become more significant than they are during isolated experiments.
Landgraf said: "Agents need more than intelligence; they need a trusted workspace. We built Ona to give agents cloud environments with the context, control and collaboration enterprises require. Joining OpenAI lets us bring that foundation into Codex, helping organizations deploy agents with confidence and giving humans more agency over their work."
Ona team to join OpenAI after closing
Following completion of the acquisition, Ona’s team will work with the Codex organization on secure and persistent execution for enterprise customers.
Thibault Sottiaux, Core Products Lead at OpenAI, said: "Enterprises want powerful agents that can do real work while meeting the security and control requirements of their environments. Ona will help us make Codex easier to deploy securely across production workflows for customers operating at the highest standards of trust and scale."
The acquisition will extend Codex’s role beyond generating or reviewing code within an immediate session. OpenAI is positioning the system as an agent that can remain active inside managed infrastructure, retain the context required for a project and complete sequences of connected tasks over time.
