{"id":40477,"date":"2025-09-03T08:48:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T08:48:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/40477\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T08:48:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T08:48:15","slug":"openai-buys-software-testing-startup-statsig-for-1-1b-and-creates-a-new-role-for-its-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/40477\/","title":{"rendered":"OpenAI buys software testing startup Statsig for $1.1B and creates a new role for its CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"

OpenAI<\/a> said today it\u2019s buying Statsig Inc.<\/a> in a $1.1 billion deal that\u2019s just as much of an acquihire as it is about bringing the product testing startup\u2019s technology into its fold.<\/p>\n

As part of the deal, Statsig founder and Chief Executive Vijaye Raji (pictured), who previously worked as a software engineer at Meta Platforms Inc., will join OpenAI as its new chief technology officer of applications, a new role for the company. He will report directly to OpenAI\u2019s CEO of Applications Fidji Simo, who joined the company from Instacart earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs part of this transition, we\u2019re acquiring Statsig, one of the most trusted experimentation platforms in the industry \u2014 powering A\/B testing, feature flagging, and real-time decisioning for some of the world\u2019s most innovative companies, including OpenAI,\u201d the company said in an announcement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The $1.1 billion price tag matches the valuation of Statsig following its most recent $100 million funding round<\/a> in May. Because there\u2019s no premium being paid, that suggests Statsig and its investors are confident that OpenAI itself will continue to grow its value. The deal needs regulatory approval to proceed, but that\u2019s expected to be a formality.<\/p>\n

Once the deal closes, Statsig will continue to operate as an independent entity at its Seattle-based headquarters, serving its existing customers, which include OpenAI. Statsig\u2019s employees will be given the option to transition to OpenAI if they wish.<\/p>\n

Founded in 2021, Statsig helps customers including OpenAI to test new software features with select groups of users and gather feedback so companies can decide if they need to tweak anything, roll it out as it is, or cancel the new feature completely. The startup counts 155 employees on its books, and after its latest funding round said it plans to grow its team to around 200 by the end of 2026. It\u2019s not clear if it\u2019s still planning to do so.<\/p>\n

Raji has previously made headlines for implementing<\/a> what is a relatively unusual policy these days of insisting that all staff work at the company\u2019s office five days per week. By prohibiting remote work, he claims to have created a culture that fosters greater collaboration, speed and innovation. \u201cWorking with the incredible team at OpenAI to build AI-powered experiences at scale for people and businesses is a rare and meaningful opportunity,\u201d Raji wrote in a blog post<\/a>. \u201cDoing that with the help of tools we built at Statsig makes it even more special.\u201d<\/p>\n

S. \u201cSoma\u201d Somasegar, managing director of Madrona Ventures and an early investor in Statsig, said in his own blog post<\/a> that the startup is a natural fit for OpenAI because of its \u201cworld-class product velocity\u201d and its obsession with helping customers. He added that Statsig\u2019s data-driven approach has helped it to become one of the leading intelligent application design companies, and believes that OpenAI will help it to \u201cextend its impact while keeping its mission front and center.\u201d<\/p>\n

OpenAI recently closed on its own, much bigger fundraising in March, which saw it collect $40 billion<\/a> from investors, bringing its valuation to a sky-high $300 billion. The artificial intelligence giant wasted little time in putting that money to use. Just two months later, in May, it snapped up<\/a> Jony Ive\u2019s AI devices startup IO Products Inc. for around $6.4 billion to support its efforts to \u201ccreate a new generation of AI-powered computers.\u201d<\/p>\n

OpenAI was also said to be interested in buying<\/a> the generative AI coding startup Windsurf for around $3 billion, but the negotiations apparently broke down. Then, in July, Google LLC managed to entice<\/a> Windsurf\u2019s co-founders Varun Mohan and Douglas Chen to join its own AI team, as part of a $2.4 billion technology licensing deal. Days later, another AI coding startup called Cognition AI Inc. swooped in to acquire Windsurf<\/a>, minus its co-founders.<\/p>\n

Photo: API Excellence\/YouTube<\/a><\/p>\n

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