Traka Celebrates 30 Years of Innovation in Intelligent Key and Asset Management

OLNEY, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 8, 2025--

Traka, an ASSA ABLOY company and global leader in intelligent key and equipment management solutions, is excited to announce its 30 years of innovation in intelligent key and asset management.

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What began as a custom solution for British Airways has grown into a global leader in intelligent key and asset management. Traka, now celebrating its 30th anniversary, is marking three decades of innovation, expansion, and impact across more than 30 industries worldwide.

In 1995, Traka’s founder, John Kent, responded to a unique challenge: British Airways needed a secure and trackable way to manage critical keys, something the market didn’t yet offer. Kent built the first Traka key cabinet, setting the foundation for what would become a new category in access management.

That first electronic key cabinet was just the beginning.

Over the past three decades, Traka has transformed from a hardware manufacturer into a comprehensive technology provider. Its range of intelligent lockers and electronic key cabinets has expanded to include solutions for weapon & evidence storage, fleet vehicles, manufacturing tools, retail assets, government and sensitive equipment and spaces, each designed to meet the specific needs of high-security and compliance-driven environments.

The introduction of TrakaWEB, a powerful centralized platform, redefined how organizations monitor and control access. With real-time visibility and automated audit trails, Traka’s systems have helped clients move from reactive to proactive asset management, boosting accountability and operational efficiency.

Having been acquired by the ASSA ABLOY Group in 2012, Traka has further accelerated its global reach and technical innovation, integrating with leading access control and compliance platforms.

Today, Traka’s intelligent systems are trusted across every sector, from critical infrastructure and healthcare to education, transportation, law enforcement and government, data centers, and beyond. Operating in over 70 countries and supporting users in multiple languages, Traka is backed by teams that are local when needed and global when it counts.

“Traka’s success has always been rooted in listening to the real-world challenges our customers face,” said Mike Rimmington, Senior Vice President & Head of Key and Asset Management for ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions. “This milestone is not just a celebration of our past, but a commitment to keep innovating for the future.”

With its eyes on what’s next, Traka continues to scale intelligently, helping organizations protect what matters most with smarter, more secure solutions.

About Traka

Traka is part of ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions, which provides safe and sustainable cutting-edge technology solutions for physical and digital access management control. As a total solutions provider, ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions is part of the wider ASSA ABLOY Group. Being a global leader in access solutions, the Group operates worldwide with 61,000 employees and holds leading positions in areas such as efficient door opening, trusted identities, and entrance automation.

Traka is the global leader in intelligent management solutions for keys and equipment. Their solutions help organizations better control their important assets, improve productivity and accountability, and reduce risk in critical processes.

Traka continuously invests in the development of technology to provide leading, innovative, secure, and effective real-world solutions to the challenges that organizations face in managing keys and equipment. Their solutions are tailored to customer needs and requirements, providing the most value and impact on their business.

For more information about Traka and our innovative solutions, please visit our website at www.traka.com.

Traka is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year after its inception in 1995.

OpenAI says it will soon start showing advertisements to ChatGPT users who aren't paying for a premium version of the chatbot.

The artificial intelligence company said Friday it hasn't yet rolled out ads but will start testing them in the coming weeks.

It's the latest effort by the San Francisco-based company to make money from ChatGPT's more than 800 million users, most of whom get it for free.

Though valued at $500 billion, the startup loses more money than it makes and has been looking for ways to turn a profit.

“Most importantly: ads will not influence the answers ChatGPT gives you,” said Fidji Simo, the company’s CEO of applications, in a social media post Friday.

OpenAI said the digital ads will appear at the bottom of ChatGPT's answers “when there’s a relevant sponsored product or service based on your current conversation.”

The ads “will be clearly labeled and separated from the organic answer,” the company said.

Two of OpenAI’s rivals, Google and Meta, have dominated digital advertising for years and already incorporate ads into some of their AI features.

Originally founded as a nonprofit with a mission to safely build better-than-human AI, OpenAI last year reorganized its ownership structure and converted its business into a public benefit corporation. It said Friday that its pursuit of advertising will be “always in support” of its original mission to ensure its AI technology benefits humanity.

But introducing personalized ads starts OpenAI “down a risky path” previously taken by social media companies, said Miranda Bogen of the Center for Democracy and Technology.

“People are using chatbots for all sorts of reasons, including as companions and advisors," said Bogen, director of CDT’s AI Governance Lab. “There’s a lot at stake when that tool tries to exploit users’ trust to hawk advertisers’ goods.”

OpenAI makes some money from paid subscriptions but needs more revenue to pay for its more than $1 trillion in financial obligations for the computer chips and data centers that power its AI services. The risk that OpenAI won’t make enough money to fulfill the expectations of backers like Oracle and Nvidia has amplified investor concerns about an AI bubble.

“It is clear to us that a lot of people want to use a lot of AI and don’t want to pay, so we are hopeful a business model like this can work,” said OpenAI CEO Sam Altman in a post Friday on social platform X. He added that he likes the ads on Meta's Instagram because they show him things he wouldn't have found otherwise.

OpenAI claims it won't use a user's personal information or prompts to collect data for ads, but the question is “for how long,” said Paddy Harrington, an analyst at research group Forrester.

“Free services are never actually free and these public AI platforms need to generate revenue,” Harrington said. “Which leads to the adage: If the service is free, you’re the product.”

FILE - The OpenAI logo is displayed on a mobile phone in front of a computer screen with output from ChatGPT, March 21, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)