OpenAI acquires Odessia, the AI travel agent from Sonder's founder

Francis Davidson announced that OpenAI has acquired Odessia, his artificial intelligence travel agent startup. According to Davidson's post, he is now employed by OpenAI and will focus on the company's direction in travel technology. The acquisition price and other deal specifics remain undisclosed, though the transaction appears structured as an acqui-hire bringing Davidson and his team into the organization.

Odessia, which launched its AI travel agent roughly five months before the acquisition, had raised $6 million in pre-seed funding led by Sequoia Capital. Davidson's announcement emphasized how he constructed the travel agent through the coordination of multiple AI agent teams. The platform had reportedly assisted early users in organizing travel worth millions of dollars in total value, but the service has since been discontinued.

OpenAI has not made a public announcement regarding this acquisition and declined to confirm it when contacted. The company has also not unveiled any travel-focused products or initiatives stemming from the deal. Nevertheless, OpenAI maintains relationships with major travel platforms including Bookings.com, Expedia, and KAYAK as either customers or partners.

Travel planning represents a significant use case for personal AI assistants. When OpenAI introduced its ChatGPT agent in July 2025, the company highlighted travel as among the potential applications for the technology.

Davidson brings substantial experience in the travel sector. He founded Sonder, a travel rental startup, while still in college in 2014. The company operated similarly to Airbnb but specialized in leasing premium apartments across major metropolitan areas globally. Sonder achieved unicorn status and generated $143 million in annual revenue at its peak.

Sonder's trajectory took a difficult turn during the pandemic. The company pursued a SPAC merger but raised insufficient capital, as Davidson later disclosed in a post announcing his resignation as CEO in June 2025. When a critical Marriott partnership dissolved, Sonder filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations. In 2026, the bankruptcy trustee sold Sonder's brand name, intellectual property, and domain to TravelAI, which now operates the website as a curated resource for rental properties matching Sonder's former positioning.

Despite Sonder's ultimate failure, Davidson represents the type of experienced, resilient founder that Silicon Valley frequently seeks out. The specifics of what OpenAI intends to accomplish with Davidson's involvement remain unclear, as the company has not responded to requests for additional information.