After Google hired its Indian-origin CEO Varun Mohan, Windsurf gets acquired by Cognition: Story in 5 points
Google pulls off a 'reverse acquihire'Soon after OpenAI's bid fell through, Google DeepMind moved swiftly to bring Windsurf's top leadership into its fold, without buying the company outright. Among those joining DeepMind are Windsurf's CEO Varun Mohan, co-founder Douglas Chen, and a group of senior AI researchers. Instead of a full acquisition, Google is paying $2.4 billion in licensing fees to access some of Windsurf's technology under non-exclusive terms. This means Google gets the talent and the tech but Windsurf remains an independent entity, free to work with other partners.Windsurf's leadership changes, but operations continue
With Varun Mohan and Douglas Chen exiting Google, Windsurf's head of business, Jeff Wang, has been appointed interim CEO. Graham Moreno, the company's VP of global sales, has stepped into the role of president. Despite the high-profile departures, around 250 employees are staying on at Windsurf. In a statement, Wang reassured clients that the company will continue to focus on enterprise AI coding tools and product innovation. 'We aren't going anywhere,' he said in a social media post.
Cognition Labs acquires Windsurf after Google's talent scoopThe plot thickened further when, shortly after Google secured Windsurf's top brass, AI startup Cognition Labs announced its acquisition of Windsurf. Known for creating the AI software engineer Devin, Cognition is led by Scott Wu, a rising name in the AI coding space. While the financial details were not disclosed, the move gives Cognition access to Windsurf's remaining team and infrastructure, allowing it to scale its developer tools further, even as the startup's founders and original leadership now work at Google.We're delighted to share that Windsurf is being acquired by Cognition. Our world-class team will be joining forces with the iconic company that created Devin, the world's first autonomous software engineering agent. Our users and customers will remain in steady hands and enjoy better product innovation than ever. And finally, Windsurf's unique IP will also become integrated into Cognition, helping the joint team continue to push the frontier of AI coding capabilitiesWindsurf blog post AI's war for talent intensifiesThe Windsurf saga is the latest example of how Big Tech is racing to corner the market in AI talent and tools – using strategic hires and licensing deals rather than full acquisitions. Google's move mirrors similar 'acquihire-style' plays by Microsoft and Meta in recent months. These deals, which avoid giving companies controlling stakes, often sidestep antitrust scrutiny. But one thing is clear: in this AI arms race, talent is the real prize.- Ends
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