OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, is making one of its biggest moves yet. It has agreed to buy Statsig, a startup that helps software developers test new features, in an all-stock deal worth $1.1 billion.
Statsig was founded in 2021, and its tools are already used by OpenAI, Eventbrite, and SoundCloud. This deal shows how OpenAI wants to go beyond just AI research and focus more on building useful tools for developers around the world.
What happens to Statsig now
As reported by Bloomberg News, Vijaye Raji, founder and CEO of Statsig, will join OpenAI as chief technology officer of applications, as part of the deal. He will report to Fidji Simo, the former Instacart head who now leads OpenAI’s apps division.
Raji is expected to help developers create safe and powerful apps with OpenAI’s technology. Statsig will keep operating from Seattle but will now be a bigger part of OpenAI’s ecosystem.
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Why this deal matters for OpenAI
This year, OpenAI has been on a buying spree. In July, it bought a startup co-founded by Apple’s former design chief Jony Ive in a $6.5 billion stock deal. It also tried to buy coding startup Windsurf for $3 billion, though that plan fell through, as further reported by Bloomberg.
OpenAI recently raised $40 billion in funding at a huge $300 billion valuation and may soon let employees sell shares at a $500 billion value.
The Statsig deal is still waiting for approval from regulators. At the same time, OpenAI is reshuffling its top team. Kevin Weil will now lead a new “AI for Science” unit, while Srinivas Narayanan becomes chief technology officer of B2B applications.
These moves show OpenAI is getting serious about not just research, but also building products that millions of people can use.
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