OpenAI Acquires Travel Startup Odessia, Exploring AI Travel Agent Business

November 11 — According to IT之家 (ITHome), Odessia founder Francis Davidson announced that OpenAI has acquired AI travel agent company Odessia, and that he has joined OpenAI to help explore the direction of its travel business. An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed the news, but no new travel products or plans have been announced yet. OpenAI's current partners in the field includeBooking.com, Expedia and KAYAK, and the spokesperson said travel is one of the topics users frequently ask ChatGPT about.

Odessia was founded just one year ago, raised $6 million in pre-seed funding led by Sequoia Capital, and launched its AI travel agent service about five months ago. Davidson is well known in the travel industry; in 2014, while he was a university student, he founded Sonder, a short-term rental company for high-end apartments.