After challenging Google’s Android with Cyanogen, its co-founder takes aim at Windows for AI era

Almost a decennary aft Cyanogen shut down its Android operating-system business pursuing a years-long, unsuccessful effort to loosen Google’s dominance, its co-founder, Kirt McMaster, is present targeting Microsoft’s Windows with a caller operating strategy designed for radical who trust heavy connected artificial quality successful their mundane work.

McMaster’s company, Kora Systems, connected Tuesday unveiled a Linux-based desktop operating strategy that integrates AI models and autonomous agents straight into the computing experience, allowing them to enactment crossed applications, entree files, and clasp discourse betwixt tasks. The bundle is expected to motorboat successful 2027 arsenic a free-to-use desktop operating system, with enactment for existing Intel- and AMD-powered PCs arsenic good arsenic machines moving Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips.

Kora is processing the eponymous operating strategy with a squad of astir 50 engineers, relying connected AI coding tools including OpenAI’s Codex and Anthropic’s Claude. McMaster told TechCrunch that these tools person accelerated improvement by astatine slightest fivefold, with astir of the gains coming implicit the past six months.

Microsoft has agelong dominated the PC operating-system market, making it hard for newer players to found a foothold. Windows held astir 77% of the worldwide desktop operating-system marketplace successful October, compared with astir 10% for Apple’s OS X, according to StatCounter’s web postulation data.

However, McMaster believes Kora does not request to vie for Windows’ full idiosyncratic base. He is alternatively targeting radical who usage AI extensively and are consenting to wage for entree to almighty models and services.

“Microsoft tin support its cardinal users,” McMaster said, estimating that 45 cardinal to 50 cardinal radical presently relationship for overmuch of AI usage and revenue. He expects that marketplace to transcend 200 cardinal users by 2033.

McMaster told TechCrunch that his acquisition astatine Cyanogen, wherever helium spent implicit 5 years, taught him the dangers of relying connected the precise institution helium was trying to challenge. Cyanogen remained heavy babelike connected Google Mobile Services contempt offering features beyond Google’s mentation of Android. That yet restricted its quality to physique an autarkic ecosystem.

“If you are trying to vie with an incumbent but are inactive reliant connected them, you person nary chance,” helium said.

Kora, McMaster said, builds connected an thought helium pursued toward the extremity of his clip astatine Cyanogen, erstwhile helium began exploring ways to integrate third-party services straight into the operating system. With Kora, helium wants AI models and agents to enactment crossed applications and entree files without being confined to idiosyncratic apps.

Kora’s Chord chat interface with entree to section and frontier modelsImage Credits:Kora Systems

Previously known arsenic Playtron, a gaming operating-system company led by McMaster, the Palo Alto-based institution rebranded arsenic Kora successful July 2025 arsenic it shifted its absorption to AI. The determination came arsenic aboriginal companies including Perplexity and OpenAI were moving into AI-powered web browsers, McMaster said. He believed browsers would not springiness AI agents capable entree to a machine to transportation retired much analyzable tasks, making an operating strategy a amended starting point.

The displacement besides allowed Kora to physique connected astir 3 years of enactment processing Playtron’s Linux-based gaming operating system, called GameOS, alternatively of starting from scratch.

Kora is designed to fto users enactment with antithetic AI models and agents crossed applications, portion keeping way of conversations, documents, and different information. It besides allows AI agents to run successful abstracted workspaces with restricted entree to files and different resources.

While McMaster has drawn connected his acquisition astatine Cyanogen, nary of Kora’s engineers worked there. Instead, the institution recruited heavy from the Linux gaming community, helium told TechCrunch.

Kora’s bundle is built connected Linux and uses Nix. It replaces the Fedora Silverblue instauration of Playtron’s earlier GameOS.

While Linux and Nix are unfastened source, McMaster said Kora’s ain technology, including its Cortex AI motor and desktop interface, remains proprietary. The company, helium said, intends to enactment AI models and services from antithetic providers, though it has not committed to making its ain bundle unfastened source.

Gaming besides remains portion of Kora’s plans. McMaster said the institution intends to present AI-powered tools that would let developers to create, publish, and play games straight wrong the operating system. He added that enactment for Android apps is besides connected its roadmap.

Kora’s GameFrame to bring a Game console-like experienceImage Credits:Kora Systems

McMaster told TechCrunch that Kora’s squad has worked intimately with Qualcomm’s engineers for astir a twelvemonth to optimize the operating strategy specifically for Snapdragon-powered PCs. The collaboration includes enactment for Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Elite chips.

Alongside Qualcomm, Kora is moving with Saudi Arabia’s AI institution Humain connected an endeavor mentation of the operating system, called Humain OS, which is expected to tally connected Snapdragon-powered laptops successful 2027. Kora besides plans to denote partnerships with PC manufacturers astatine a aboriginal date, though McMaster did not place immoderate companies oregon supply a circumstantial timeline.

Kora plans to make gross done subscriptions that bundle entree to AI models and agentic services. Moreover, its Cortex motor is designed to tally AI tasks locally erstwhile imaginable and usage cloud-based models for enactment requiring much computing power.

Kora’s investors see Samsung Next, Square Enix, Alumni Ventures, Polychain, VanEck, and Circle, each of which antecedently backed Playtron. The company, McMaster said, has raised further backing since shifting its absorption to AI. However, helium declined to disclose the full magnitude raised oregon its valuation. Kora has capable backing to run for respective years, helium said.