OpenAI announced the acquisition of Statsig, a Seattle-based product experimentation platform, for $1.1 billion in an all-stock deal, marking one of its largest acquisitions to date. This strategic move, often described as an “acqui-hire,” brings Statsig’s founder and CEO, Vijaye Raji, into OpenAI as the new CTO of Applications, reporting to Fidji Simo, the former Instacart CEO who now leads OpenAI’s Applications division. The deal, pending regulatory approval, aims to enhance OpenAI’s ability to rapidly develop and deploy AI products like ChatGPT and Codex by integrating Statsig’s expertise in A/B testing, feature flagging, and real-time analytics.
Statsig, founded in 2021 by Raji, a former Meta engineering leader, has powered experimentation for companies like Atlassian, Notion, and OpenAI itself. Its platform enables data-driven product iteration, allowing teams to test features and make real-time decisions, which is critical in the fast-paced AI development landscape. By bringing Statsig in-house, OpenAI seeks to streamline its feedback loops, ensuring safer and more effective rollouts of AI features. Raji’s role will involve overseeing product engineering for ChatGPT and Codex, focusing on infrastructure and system integrity to deliver reliable, scalable applications.
The acquisition aligns with OpenAI’s shift from a research-focused lab to a product-driven powerhouse, competing with rivals like Google and Microsoft. Statsig’s tools address a key challenge in AI: transforming cutting-edge research into user-friendly, safe products. As AI-generated features proliferate, Statsig’s experimentation framework helps validate what works, reducing the risk of deploying untested capabilities. This move is seen as a response to the need for disciplined product development in an era where AI can generate countless feature variants but requires rigorous testing to ensure quality.
Alongside the acquisition, OpenAI announced leadership changes. Chief Product Officer Kevin Weil will transition to VP of AI for Science, focusing on AI-driven scientific discovery, while Srinivas Narayanan, former head of engineering, becomes CTO of B2B Applications, reporting to COO Brad Lightcap. These shifts reflect OpenAI’s strategic restructuring to balance research and product innovation. Statsig’s 150+ employees will join OpenAI but continue operating independently from Seattle, ensuring continuity for existing customers like Bloomberg and Figma.
The $1.1 billion valuation matches Statsig’s May 2025 funding round, suggesting investors are banking on OpenAI’s soaring stock value, with the company reportedly eyeing a $500 billion valuation. While some analysts view this as a brilliant move to secure first-mover advantages in AI product development, others note that Statsig’s integration must be carefully managed to avoid disrupting its customer base. This acquisition underscores the growing importance of experimentation in AI, positioning OpenAI to deliver more reliable, user-focused applications in a fiercely competitive market.
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