OpenAI has acquired an AI travel agent named Odessia, according to its founder, Francis Davidson. In a post announcing the deal, Davidson revealed he is now employed by OpenAI to assist the lab with the future of travel.
The specific financial terms of the agreement remain undisclosed, though the acquisition appears to be an acqui-hire. Davidson’s announcement emphasized the process of building his AI travel agent by coordinating teams of AI agents. Odessia, which is less than a year old, secured $6 million in pre-seed funding led by Sequoia and launched its agent approximately five months ago. Davidson noted that the tool had facilitated the planning of millions of dollars in travel for early adopters, although the service has already been discontinued.
OpenAI has not publicly announced this acquisition and declined to confirm the details to TechCrunch. Furthermore, the company has not revealed any new travel-specific products or immediate plans. However, OpenAI counts major players like Booking.com, Expedia, and KAYAK as customers or partners.
Travel represents a significant use case for personal AI assistants. This was noted when OpenAI launched its ChatGPT agent in July 2025, highlighting travel among its potential applications.
The acquisition holds particular interest due to Davidson's background. He founded the travel startup Sonder as a college student in 2014, positioning it as a competitor to Airbnb by focusing on leasing upscale apartments in major cities. The startup faced severe challenges during the pandemic. Although it recovered and went public via a SPAC, it failed to secure necessary funding. Later that year, Davidson resigned as CEO following the collapse of a key partnership with Marriott.
Following the partnership failure, Sonder entered bankruptcy and wound down. In 2026, the bankruptcy trustee sold the company's name, trademarks, and website to TravelAI, which now operates as a curated guide for travel rentals. Before its decline, Davidson had grown Sonder into a unicorn with $143 million in revenue. While Sonder was not a success story, Davidson is viewed by Silicon Valley as a valuable "battle-scarred" founder.
It remains to be seen what OpenAI intends to develop with Davidson joining the team. The company has not yet responded to requests for comment regarding the future of the venture.
The Editorial Staff at AIChief is a team of professional content writers with extensive experience in AI and marketing. Founded in 2025, AIChief has quickly grown into the largest free AI resource hub in the industry.