OpenAI has started to build out its Applications team under Fidji Simo, its new CEO of Applications, who left her former position as Instacart’s CEO to start in the executive role on August 18th. On Tuesday, the company confirmed it’s shuffling executive roles, bringing on a new CTO of applications, and acquiring a product analytics company for $1.1 billion.
Statsig, the company OpenAI is acquiring, specializes in A/B testing and other features for companies looking to improve their products, and OpenAI is bringing on its founder and CEO, Vijaye Raji, as a new C-suite executive. Raji will be OpenAI’s CTO of Applications, heading up product engineering for both ChatGPT and Codex, “with responsibilities that span core systems and product lines including infrastructure and Integrity,” OpenAI wrote in a blog post. He’ll report directly to Simo.
“Once the acquisition is finalized, Statsig employees will become OpenAI employees,” OpenAI wrote in the blog post, noting that the deal’s close will be subject to regulatory approval. “It will continue operating independently and serving its customer base out of its Seattle office. We’ll take a measured approach to any future integration, ensuring continuity for current customers and enabling the team to stay focused on what they do best.”
OpenAI also announced it was shuffling some other executive positions.
Srinivas Narayanan, who heads up the company’s engineering and oversaw the development of ChatGPT, developer APIs, and more, is being promoted to another brand-new C-suite executive role: CTO of B2B Applications. Narayanan will oversee all the business-side applications, covering startups, enterprises, and government, and he’ll report directly to OpenAI COO Brad Lightcap.
Kevin Weil, OpenAI’s CPO, will be transitioning onto the research side of OpenAI’s business, the company confirmed. He’ll be spinning up a new team at the company as its VP of AI for Science, working closely with Mark Chen, OpenAI’s chief research officer. As part of that transition, Weil’s former product team, including head of ChatGPT Nick Turley, will now report directly to Simo.
