Article · AI translation
Thanks to IT Home readers 华南吴彦祖 and 乌蝇哥的左手 for the tips!
IT Home reported on November 11 that Francis Davidson, founder of Odessia, announced today that OpenAI has acquired the AI travel agent company Odessia. He has also joined OpenAI to help the AI startup explore the direction of its travel business.
Odessia was reportedly founded just one year ago and secured $6 million in pre-seed funding led by Sequoia Capital (IT Home note: approximately 40.119 million yuan at the current exchange rate). About 5 months ago, it launched an AI travel agent service that helped early users plan trips worth millions of dollars.
An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed the information and said: “We are very pleased to welcome Davidson to OpenAI. He is an experienced entrepreneur who has founded several companies that help people travel. We are glad he chose OpenAI to pursue a new venture together.”
However, OpenAI has yet to announce any new products or plans in the travel sector. Its current partners in the sector include Booking.com, Expedia and KAYAK. Asked whether it would launch travel-related products in the future, the OpenAI spokesperson offered no further details, saying only that travel is one of the topics users frequently ask ChatGPT about.
There is another noteworthy reason for OpenAI's acquisition of Odessia: Davidson is well known in the travel industry. In 2014, while still in college, he founded the travel startup Sonder. Its business model is somewhat similar to Airbnb's, but it focuses on short-term rentals of upscale apartments in major cities around the world.