OpenAI acquires AI travel startup Odessia to expand chatbot capabilities
OpenAI has acquired AI travel agent startup Odessia in an acqui-hire deal to develop automated travel planning features for its ChatGPT platform.
OpenAI has acquired AI travel assistant startup Odessia in an acqui-hire deal. Founder Francis Davidson announced he is joining the artificial intelligence research lab to spearhead the future of travel on ChatGPT, a spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch.
Founded a year ago, Odessia raised million in pre-seed funding led by Sequoia Capital and launched its autonomous travel agent five months ago. Although the standalone service has now been shut down, the startup had already helped early users plan millions of dollars in travel.
OpenAI stated that 1.2 billion people use ChatGPT weekly, with trip planning ranking among the most popular requests. The acquisition highlights the company's ambition to integrate specialised autonomous agents directly into everyday consumer workflows.
Source: TechCrunch Photo: rawpixel (CC0)
