OpenAI has made one of its biggest moves yet by acquiring Statsig, a Seattle-based product testing startup, in a deal valued at around $1.1 billion in stock. Alongside the acquisition, Vijaye Raji, the Indian-origin founder and CEO of Statsig, has been appointed as Chief Technology Officer of Applications at OpenAI. This marks a major shift for OpenAI as it expands from building AI models to delivering powerful, user-ready applications.
Key Points
- OpenAI acquired Statsig in an all-stock deal worth about $1.1 billion.
- Statsig specializes in product testing, A/B experiments, feature flagging, and analytics.
- Vijaye Raji, an Indian-origin tech leader, will now serve as OpenAI’s CTO of Applications.
- He will report directly to Fidji Simo, head of the Applications division at OpenAI.
- The deal signals OpenAI’s push to build reliable, scalable AI products for global users.
What is Statsig?
Statsig, founded in 2021, has quickly become a go-to platform for product experimentation and analytics. The company’s tools help developers and product teams test new features, analyze user behavior, and make data-driven decisions.
At its core, Statsig offers:
- A/B testing to compare product changes.
- Feature flagging to safely roll out updates.
- Real-time decision-making tools that ensure users get the best possible experience.
In other words, Statsig functions like a lab where product teams can experiment without breaking things for users. For fast-scaling companies like OpenAI, such capabilities are invaluable.
Why OpenAI Acquired Statsig
OpenAI is no longer just a research lab publishing papers on AI models. With ChatGPT, Codex, and other applications in development, the company is shifting gears to become a full-scale product organization.
By bringing Statsig in-house, OpenAI gains a powerful experimentation platform that will allow it to:
- Test new AI features with smaller user groups before global release.
- Improve reliability and safety while rolling out updates.
- Gather deeper insights into how people interact with AI apps.
For a company that faces constant scrutiny over reliability and safety, this move is strategic. OpenAI is essentially setting up an internal “product testing factory” to ensure its AI tools evolve quickly without compromising user trust.
Vijaye Raji’s New Role
One of the most significant aspects of this deal is the leadership change. Vijaye Raji, who built Statsig after years at Microsoft and Facebook, will now serve as Chief Technology Officer of Applications at OpenAI.
In this role, Raji will oversee product engineering across OpenAI’s key consumer-facing applications like ChatGPT, as well as developer tools such as Codex. His mandate includes scaling infrastructure, ensuring platform stability, and improving user experience.
Importantly, he will report directly to Fidji Simo, who leads OpenAI’s newly formed Applications division. This alignment suggests OpenAI is building a top-tier leadership team focused purely on products, signaling its ambition to compete at the level of Big Tech companies.
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What This Means for the AI Industry
The deal is notable not just for its size but for what it represents. AI companies are moving beyond research to focus on practical, everyday applications. OpenAI’s acquisition of Statsig mirrors the broader trend of AI labs transforming into full-fledged product companies.
For the industry, this means:
- Faster rollout of new AI features across consumer apps.
- Greater emphasis on safety and testing before global releases.
- A shift in AI competition — not just who builds the best models, but who delivers the best products.
By integrating Statsig’s testing and analytics, OpenAI is better positioned to respond to user feedback and iterate quickly—something critical in the fast-moving AI landscape.
Why It Matters for India
For Indian readers, this deal has an inspirational angle. Vijaye Raji, an Indian-origin entrepreneur, has risen to a top leadership role at one of the most influential AI companies in the world. His journey—from working in India and later in Microsoft’s Redmond office to founding Statsig and now becoming a CTO at OpenAI—highlights the growing global impact of Indian tech leaders.
It’s also a reminder that Indian engineers and startups are increasingly playing a role in shaping the global AI ecosystem. With leaders like Raji in key decision-making positions, the influence of Indian-origin talent in the world’s most advanced AI projects continues to grow.
Conclusion
OpenAI’s $1.1 billion acquisition of Statsig isn’t just about buying a startup—it’s about investing in the future of AI applications. By combining Statsig’s experimentation platform with its own cutting-edge models, OpenAI is positioning itself to release safer, faster, and more impactful AI tools.
With Vijaye Raji stepping in as CTO of Applications, OpenAI now has a proven leader to guide its consumer and developer products. For users worldwide, this could mean smarter and more reliable AI in everyday life. And for Indian readers, it’s another proud moment to see an Indian-origin innovator at the helm of a global tech shift.
