OpenAI is moving to strengthen the product side of its business with an agreement to acquire Statsig, a product testing startup whose experimentation platform is meant to help teams build, measure and improve software faster.
The deal is notable not only because of its size, but because it arrives alongside a broader reshuffling of OpenAI’s applications leadership. The company is placing new responsibility around ChatGPT, Codex and future applications under executives focused on shipping products, serving enterprise customers and applying AI to science.
A large all-stock deal for Statsig
OpenAI announced in a blog post on Tuesday that it agreed to acquire Statsig and bring on Statsig founder and CEO Vijaye Raji as CTO of Applications. OpenAI spokesperson Kayla Wood told TechCrunch that OpenAI is paying $1.1 billion for Statsig in an all-stock deal under the company’s current $3 00 billion valuation.
TechCrunch described the transaction as one of the largest acquisitions ever for the ChatGPT maker. OpenAI also said the acquisition is pending regulatory review, so the transaction is not yet complete.
If the acquisition closes, all Statsig employees will become OpenAI employees. At the same time, OpenAI said Statsig will continue operating independently and serving its customer base out of its Seattle office.
Why Statsig matters to OpenAI’s applications work
Statsig’s role is centered on product experimentation. In practical terms, that kind of platform helps product teams test changes, compare results and make decisions about what to ship.
OpenAI says bringing Statsig’s experimentation platform in-house will accelerate product development across the Applications organization. That is important because OpenAI is not describing the deal as a simple talent acquisition. The company is also pointing to Statsig’s platform as infrastructure for the way its applications teams will work.
The Applications business is led by Fidji Simo, the former CEO of Instacart, who started work at OpenAI a few weeks ago. Raji will report to Simo and will head product engineering for ChatGPT, OpenAI’s AI coding tool Codex, and future applications that OpenAI plans to build.
That gives the Statsig deal two clear functions inside OpenAI:
- It brings a product testing platform closer to the teams building user-facing applications.
- It places Raji in a senior role overseeing engineering work for existing and future OpenAI applications.
Leadership changes around applications, science and business tools
The acquisition is paired with changes across OpenAI’s leadership team. Kevin Weil, OpenAI’s chief product officer, will become VP of a new group called OpenAI for Science, according to a post he shared on LinkedIn.
Weil said the goal of the new organization “is to build the next great scientific instrument: an AI-powered platform that accelerates scientific discovery.” He also said he will work closely with Sebastien Bubeck, an OpenAI researcher and the former VP of AI and Distinguished Scientist at Microsoft.
In the same LinkedIn post, Weil said, “I’m able to do this because the product and design leaders at OpenAI are amazing, and now are complemented by Fidji Simo beginning her role as CEO of Applications,” adding, “OpenAI’s products have been my life since I joined, and they’re in great hands.”
Another shift affects OpenAI’s engineering leadership. Srinivas Narayanan, the company’s current head of engineering, announced on LinkedIn that he would move into a new role as CTO of B2B applications. In that position, Narayanan said he will work directly with OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap, who oversees many of the company’s relationships with enterprise customers.
What the reorganization signals
OpenAI’s changes point to a clearer division of responsibility inside the company. Simo is leading Applications. Raji is set to run product engineering for ChatGPT, Codex and future applications. Weil is moving toward a science-focused group. Narayanan is shifting toward B2B applications and enterprise work.
Those moves matter because they show OpenAI organizing around several different ways its technology reaches users. ChatGPT and Codex sit in the applications portfolio. Enterprise customers connect to the company through business-focused work. Scientific discovery is being framed as its own area of product ambition.
The Statsig acquisition fits into that pattern. Product testing is not the public face of an application, but it can shape how quickly teams learn from usage and refine what they build. By bringing that platform inside the company, OpenAI is putting experimentation closer to the center of its applications strategy.
What happens next
The acquisition still needs regulatory review. Until it is completed, OpenAI’s plans for fully absorbing Statsig’s employees and platform remain conditional on the deal closing.
OpenAI has already outlined the intended operating model. Statsig employees would become OpenAI employees, while the startup would continue to operate independently from its Seattle office and keep serving its customer base.
For OpenAI, the deal adds a product testing startup, a new CTO of Applications and another sign that the company is building a more formal structure around its applications business. For Statsig, the transaction would place its experimentation platform inside one of the most closely watched AI companies while preserving its independent operations and customer service model.