OpenAI acquired Odessia, founder Francis Davidson says

Odessia founder Francis Davidson says OpenAI acquired his travel-agent startup and that he has joined the company to help with the future of travel. Odessia’s superintelligence (SI) travel tool has shut down, ending access for its users.

Davidson said the tool had helped early users plan millions of dollars worth of travel. The figure describes travel planned, not revenue or completed bookings.

Deal terms and Davidson’s background

TechCrunch said the deal terms were not disclosed. In its November 10 report, the outlet said OpenAI had not announced the acquisition or confirmed it when asked.

Davidson founded the travel startup Sonder as a college student in 2014 and announced his resignation as its CEO in June 2025. The year-old Odessia raised $6 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Sequoia and launched its travel agent about 5 months before the report.

Davidson says he is working on travel at OpenAI, but the company had not announced a new travel-specific product or plan as of 10 November.

When OpenAI launched ChatGPT agent in July 2025, it identified travel as a potential use. TechCrunch reported that Bookings.com, Expedia and KAYAK were among OpenAI’s customers or partners, without specifying each relationship.