OpenAI acquires product analytics firm Statsig for a reported $1.1 billion, appointing its CEO Vijaye Raji as new CTO of Applications in a major exec shuffle.
OpenAI is significantly expanding its product development capabilities and leadership team, announcing the acquisition of product analytics firm Statsig for a reported $1.1 billion.
The deal, confirmed Tuesday, sees Statsig founder and CEO Vijaye Raji stepping in as OpenAI's new CTO of Applications, reporting to Fidji Simo.
This strategic move, alongside other key executive shuffles, aims to bolster OpenAI's focus on translating its advanced AI research into intuitive, market-ready applications like ChatGPT. The acquisition signals a major investment in the tools and talent needed to accelerate its product-to-market pipeline, intensifying its competitive stance.
The purchase brings one of the industry's most trusted experimentation platforms in-house. Statsig specializes in A/B testing, feature flagging, and real-time decisioning -- tools critical for refining complex products at scale. OpenAI was already a customer, and this acquisition will deeply integrate that capability.
The move is a direct injection of Big Tech product discipline into OpenAI's research-heavy culture. Statsig was founded on the belief that the best products emerge from rapid experimentation and data-informed decisions, a philosophy honed by Raji during his decade at Meta.
In a statement, CEO of Applications Fidji Simo praised Raji's experience, saying "his leadership will help turn that progress into safe applications that empower people with many new tools to improve their lives, help companies increase their impact and allow developers to build faster and better products."
Raji echoed this sentiment, stating, "the journey with Statsig has been deeply gratifying, leading me to this moment and giving me conviction that we will continue helping teams ship better software every day," framing the move as a continuation of his work under a broader mission.
For now, Statsig will continue to operate independently from its Seattle office and serve its existing customer base, with its team becoming OpenAI employees. The company said it will take a "measured approach" to any future integration.
The acquisition is the centerpiece of a broader leadership shuffle designed to strengthen OpenAI's product and business-to-business operations. The changes appear to consolidate the product vision under Simo, who only started in her role on August 18th, signaling a rapid build-out of her division.
As the new CTO of Applications, Raji will head product engineering for ChatGPT and Codex. In a parallel move, Srinivas Narayanan, who previously oversaw ChatGPT's development, is being promoted to the new role of CTO of B2B Applications, reporting to COO Brad Lightcap.
This promotion is significant, creating a dedicated C-suite role focused purely on enterprise, startup, and government clients. It signals a major push to build out business solutions beyond the core API and compete more directly with offerings from Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.
In another key change, Chief Product Officer Kevin Weil is transitioning to the research side of the business. He will lead a new team as VP of AI for Science, working with Chief Research Officer Mark Chen. This move embeds a seasoned product leader directly within the research org to identify and nurture future breakthroughs.
Weil's former product team, including ChatGPT head Nick Turley, will now report directly to Simo. This centralizes control of the company's flagship product under the new Applications division, streamlining the path from development to deployment.
This internal restructuring, focused on disciplined product growth, occurs as OpenAI wages aggressive external battles. The company is currently engaged in a legal conflict with critics, recently serving subpoenas to AI safety nonprofits like Encode, alleging a 'billionaire-backed conspiracy'.
The legal filings seek communications related to Elon Musk and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg. OpenAI's lawyers claim the company wants to unmask funders it believes hold equity in rival firms like Anthropic.
Critics dismiss the claims as baseless. Nathan Calvin, general counsel for Encode, suggested OpenAI is trapped in a "paranoid bubble," stating, "they're under siege from Meta... and Elon... I think they're just seeing conspiracies and echoes of their enemies in places where they aren't."
This view is shared by others who believe the company is overly focused on Musk's influence.
The increasingly bitter legal fights have drawn sharp rebukes from the judiciary. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who is presiding over related cases, has grown impatient with the conflict.
She bluntly warned that "the court will not waste precious judicial resources on the parties' gamesmanship," signaling the court will not tolerate endless strategic maneuvering.
This context paints a picture of a company fortifying its internal product engine while simultaneously fighting a multi-front war. The Statsig acquisition is a clear investment in winning the product race, even as the company's legal and political battles escalate.