OpenAI Reportedly Acquires Sonder Founder’s AI Travel Startup
TechCrunch reports OpenAI acquired Odessia, the AI travel startup from Sonder founder Francis Davidson, in what appears to be an acqui-hire.
TL;DR
- TechCrunch reports OpenAI acquired Odessia, the year-old AI travel agent founded by Sonder’s Francis Davidson.
- The deal looks like an acqui-hire; Odessia raised $6M led by Sequoia and helped plan millions in trips before shutdown.
- OpenAI confirmed the hire but shared no new travel product plans despite existing ties to Booking.com, Expedia and KAYAK.
TechCrunch reports that OpenAI has acquired Odessia, an AI travel agent founded by Francis Davidson, the guy behind Sonder. Davidson announced the move himself and said he’s now at OpenAI working on the future of travel.
According to TechCrunch, the deal terms stayed private and it looks like an acqui-hire. Odessia, just a year old, had raised a $6 million pre-seed round led by Sequoia and launched its AI agent about five months back. It helped early users plan millions in trips before shutting down.
TechCrunch says an OpenAI spokesperson confirmed the hire but gave no details on new travel products. The company already works with Booking.com, Expedia, and KAYAK, and travel is one of the big things people ask ChatGPT about.
Davidson’s past gets attention too. TechCrunch notes he started Sonder in 2014 as a short-term apartment rental play. It grew into a unicorn with $143 million in revenue, went public via SPAC, then hit bankruptcy after a Marriott deal fell apart. The name and assets later sold to TravelAI.
The Tea
TechCrunch frames this as OpenAI quietly pulling in battle-tested talent to tackle real-world tasks like trip planning. Travel keeps popping up in user chats, so the move makes sense even if no big product launch is confirmed yet.
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