OpenAI announced on Tuesday that it has hired the co-founders of Context.ai, a startup specializing in advanced evaluations and analytics for AI models. Following this acqui-hire arrangement, Context.ai indicated that it would begin winding down its products and services, according to a statement posted on the company’s website. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, and OpenAI provided no additional comment on the transaction.
Context.ai was established in 2023 by former Google employees Henry Scott-Green, who served as CEO, and Alex Gamble, the company’s CTO. In the same year, the startup attracted $3.5 million in seed funding from notable investors GV and Theory Ventures. Context.ai’s technology enabled clients to analyze and understand data produced by AI models to ensure the content effectively responded to user queries. Through an API, customers could upload model-generated transcripts, and Context.ai would categorize and tag responses, offering valuable insights into how users interacted with the system and assessing overall model performance.
Scott-Green previously described the primary challenge faced by AI developers, emphasizing that many struggled to understand precisely how their models were being utilized and whether the outcomes genuinely addressed the intended purposes. “My model is a black box,” a consistently voiced frustration among developers, highlighted the critical role Context.ai sought to fill in providing transparency and clarity.
At its peak last year, Context.ai employed six individuals; however, the current staff size and how many others may join OpenAI remain unclear. In a recent post on social media, Scott-Green mentioned that he and Gamble will focus on building essential tools for developers at OpenAI, particularly centered around assessing AI model performance. Scott-Green’s LinkedIn profile has already been updated to reflect his new role at OpenAI as a product manager dedicated to evaluations.
