OpenAI is acquiring Washington-based product development platform providing startup Statsig for $1.1 billion to speed up its generative AI-based product launches and accelerate iteration cycles of existing products such as Codex and ChatGPT.

The acquisition could be a shot in the arm for the ChatGPT-maker as rivals, such as Google, AWS, and Anthropic, aggressively vie for more market share.

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OpenAI products, such as Codex and ChatGPT, which it often terms as applications, compete with Google’s Gemini-based offerings, Anthropic’s Claude-based offerings, and AWS’s Amazon Q and Kiro.

The market for AI assistants is expected to expand from $3.35 billion in 2025 to $21.11 billion by 2030, according to a report from MarketsAndMarkets.com. A separate report from Statista showed that revenue in the AI development tool software market is projected to reach $9.76 billion in 2025 and $12.99 billion by 2030.

Statsig’s technology stack, according to Forrester VP and principal analyst Charlie Dai, will strategically help OpenAI, as accelerated product development cycles could help the ChatGPT-maker get an edge over rivals.

“Statsig’s core value lies in its real-time experimentation and feature flagging tools. It allows teams to test, measure, and iterate on product features quickly and safely. OpenAI can refine ChatGPT and Codex features with precision, reducing time-to-market,” Dai explained.

Additionally, Dai pointed out that Statsig will bring a structured, data-driven product iteration approach to OpenAI — an attribute that the analyst said is missing across OpenAI rivals.

As part of the acquisition, Statsig CEO Vijaye Raji will step into a new role as CTO of Applications — a division of OpenAI that Sam Altman opened in May by placing former Instacart CEO Fidji Simo in charge.

Raji, who previously led large-scale consumer engineering at Meta, will report to Simo, who in turn will continue to report to Altman.

“As a hands-on builder and trusted leader, Vijaye will head product engineering for ChatGPT and Codex, with responsibilities that span core systems and product lines, including infrastructure and Integrity,” the company wrote in a blog post.

Notably, both ChatGPT and Codex, over the last month, have seen significant updates with the AI assistant getting access to GPT-5 and the coding assistant getting new capabilities.

The new Codex features include a new IDE extension, the ability to move tasks between the cloud and local environment, code reviews in GitHub, and a revamped Codex CLI (command line interface).

OpenAI said that although Statsig employees will become in-house staff post-acquisition, they will continue to serve their customers out of Seattle, at least for the foreseeable future.

“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 wrote.

OpenAI has not provided a timeframe as to when it expects the deal to close.