OpenAI Acquires Statsig for $1.1B in Major Executive Reshuffle
▼ Summary
– OpenAI has appointed Fidji Simo as CEO of Applications and is building out its Applications team under her leadership.
– The company is acquiring Statsig, a product analytics firm, for $1.1 billion and bringing on its CEO Vijaye Raji as CTO of Applications.
– Statsig will continue operating independently after the acquisition, pending regulatory approval, and its employees will join OpenAI.
– Srinivas Narayanan is promoted to CTO of B2B Applications, overseeing business applications and reporting to COO Brad Lightcap.
– Kevin Weil transitions to VP of AI for Science on the research side, while his former product team now reports directly to Simo.
In a significant corporate expansion, OpenAI has announced the $1.1 billion acquisition of Statsig, a leading product analytics platform, alongside a major restructuring of its executive leadership. This move signals a deepening commitment to enhancing product development capabilities and scaling its application ecosystem under newly appointed leadership.
The acquisition brings Statsig’s expertise in A/B testing and product experimentation directly into OpenAI’s operational fold. Vijaye Raji, founder and CEO of Statsig, will join the company as CTO of Applications, taking charge of product engineering for both ChatGPT and Codex. His responsibilities will include overseeing core systems, infrastructure, and integrity initiatives. Raji will report directly to Fidji Simo, who recently stepped into the role of CEO of Applications after leading Instacart.
Once regulatory approvals are secured, Statsig’s employees will transition to OpenAI, though the company will continue to operate independently from its Seattle headquarters. OpenAI emphasized a careful, phased approach to integration to maintain service continuity for existing Statsig clients.
In parallel, OpenAI is reshuffling several key leadership positions. Srinivas Narayanan, previously head of engineering and instrumental in the development of ChatGPT and developer APIs, has been promoted to CTO of B2B Applications. He will now oversee business-focused applications serving startups, enterprises, and government clients, reporting to COO Brad Lightcap.
Additionally, Kevin Weil, the current Chief Product Officer, will transition to a research-oriented role as VP of AI for Science. He will collaborate closely with Mark Chen, OpenAI’s chief research officer, to pioneer new scientific applications of AI. As part of this shift, the product team, including Nick Turley, head of ChatGPT, will now report directly to Fidji Simo.
These changes reflect OpenAI’s strategic effort to streamline its product and research divisions while integrating advanced analytics to accelerate innovation across its growing suite of AI tools.
(Source: The Verge)
