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

Almost a decade after Cyanogen shut down its Android operating-system business following a years-long, unsuccessful effort to loosen Google’s dominance, its co-founder, Kirt McMaster, is now targeting Microsoft’s Windows with a new operating system designed for people who rely heavily on artificial intelligence in their everyday work.

McMaster’s company, Kora Systems, on Tuesday unveiled a Linux-based desktop operating system that integrates AI models and autonomous agents directly into the computing experience, allowing them to work across applications, access files, and retain context between tasks. The software is expected to launch in 2027 as a free-to-use desktop operating system, with support for existing Intel- and AMD-powered PCs as well as machines running Qualcomm’s Snapdragon chips.

Kora is developing the eponymous operating system with a team of about 50 engineers, relying on AI coding tools including OpenAI’s Codex and Anthropic’s Claude. McMaster told TechCrunch that these tools have accelerated development by at least fivefold, with most of the gains coming over the past six months.

Microsoft has long dominated the PC operating-system market, making it hard for newer players to establish a foothold. Windows held about 77% of the worldwide desktop operating-system market in October, compared with nearly 10% for Apple’s OS X, according to StatCounter’s web traffic data.

However, McMaster believes Kora does not need to compete for Windows’ entire user base. He is rather targeting people who use AI extensively and are willing to pay for access to powerful models and services.

“Microsoft can keep its billion users,” McMaster said, estimating that 45 million to 50 million people currently account for much of AI usage and revenue. He expects that market to exceed 200 million users by 2033.

McMaster told TechCrunch that his experience at Cyanogen, where he spent over five years, taught him the dangers of relying on the very company he was trying to challenge. Cyanogen remained heavily dependent on Google Mobile Services despite offering features beyond Google’s version of Android. That ultimately restricted its ability to build an independent ecosystem.

“If you are trying to compete with an incumbent but are still reliant on them, you have no chance,” he said.

Kora, McMaster said, builds on an idea he pursued toward the end of his time at Cyanogen, when he began exploring ways to integrate third-party services directly into the operating system. With Kora, he wants AI models and agents to work across applications and access files without being confined to individual apps.

Previously known as Playtron, a gaming operating-system company led by McMaster, the Palo Alto-based company rebranded as Kora in July 2025 as it shifted its focus to AI. The decision came as early companies including Perplexity and OpenAI were moving into AI-powered web browsers, McMaster said. He believed browsers would not give AI agents enough access to a computer to carry out more complex tasks, making an operating system a better starting point.

The shift also allowed Kora to build on nearly three years of work developing Playtron’s Linux-based gaming operating system, called GameOS, instead of starting from scratch.

Kora is designed to let users work with different AI models and agents across applications, while keeping track of conversations, documents, and other information. It also allows AI agents to operate in separate workspaces with restricted access to files and other resources.

While McMaster has drawn on his experience at Cyanogen, none of Kora’s engineers worked there. Instead, the company recruited heavily from the Linux gaming community, he told TechCrunch.

Kora’s software is built on Linux and uses Nix. It replaces the Fedora Silverblue foundation of Playtron’s earlier GameOS.

While Linux and Nix are open source, McMaster said Kora’s own technology, including its Cortex AI engine and desktop interface, remains proprietary. The company, he said, intends to support AI models and services from different providers, although it has not committed to making its own software open source.

Gaming also remains part of Kora’s plans. McMaster said the company intends to introduce AI-powered tools that would allow developers to create, publish, and play games directly within the operating system. He added that support for Android apps is also on its roadmap.

McMaster told TechCrunch that Kora’s team has worked closely with Qualcomm’s engineers for nearly a year to optimize the operating system specifically for Snapdragon-powered PCs. The collaboration includes support for Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Elite chips.

Alongside Qualcomm, Kora is working with Saudi Arabia’s AI company Humain on an enterprise version of the operating system, called Humain OS, which is expected to run on Snapdragon-powered laptops in 2027. Kora also plans to announce partnerships with PC manufacturers at a later date, though McMaster did not identify any companies or provide a specific timeline.

Kora plans to generate revenue through subscriptions that bundle access to AI models and agentic services. Moreover, its Cortex engine is designed to run AI tasks locally when possible and use cloud-based models for work requiring more computing power.

Kora’s investors include Samsung Next, Square Enix, Alumni Ventures, Polychain, VanEck, and Circle, all of which previously backed Playtron. The company, McMaster said, has raised additional funding since shifting its focus to AI. However, he declined to disclose the total amount raised or its valuation. Kora has enough funding to operate for several years, he said.

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