OpenAI has agreed to acquire Ona, a startup that builds secure, pre-configured cloud environments for AI agents, with the goal of expanding the capabilities of its coding assistant, Codex.
Financial terms were not disclosed, and the deal remains subject to customary closing conditions.
Ona’s infrastructure allows AI agents to access tools, systems, and context within isolated cloud environments, making it easier to run complex, longer-duration tasks. OpenAI said the technology will let Codex take on more demanding workloads while also helping enterprises get agents into production more reliably. Once the deal closes, Ona’s team will fold into OpenAI’s Codex group.
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Codex has grown quickly, now serving more than 5 million weekly active users, up from 3 million in April. The acquisition is the latest in a string of deals OpenAI has made to stay ahead of competitors, following purchases of cybersecurity startup Promptfoo in March, health-care tech company Torch in January, and AI interface developer Software Applications before that.
The move comes at a particularly competitive moment. Anthropic, OpenAI’s closest rival, has seen sharp growth driven largely by Claude Code, its own AI coding assistant. The two companies have both recently filed confidentially for initial public offerings, and Anthropic closed its Series H funding round in late May at a $965 billion valuation, edging past OpenAI’s $852 billion March valuation.
Pricing strategy is also emerging as a battleground. According to a Wall Street Journal report citing sources familiar with the matter, OpenAI is weighing significant cuts to token-based access charges, partly in anticipation of similar moves from Anthropic. OpenAI currently offers tiered consumer subscriptions starting at $8 per month and running to $100 and above for access to its GPT-5.5 models, while Anthropic charges $17 monthly for Claude Pro and $100 and above for Claude Max.
Despite the rivalry, OpenAI’s consumer reach remains formidable. ChatGPT became the first app to hit 1 billion monthly active users in May, reaching that milestone roughly three years after its 2022 launch, a pace that outstripped even Google Maps.
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