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5 hours ago
- CNA
Google hires Windsurf execs in $2.4 billion deal to advance AI coding ambitions
Alphabet's Google has hired several key staff members from AI code generation startup Windsurf, the companies announced on Friday, in a surprise move following an attempt by its rival OpenAI to acquire the startup. Google is paying $2.4 billion in license fees as part of the deal to use some of Windsurf's technology under non-exclusive terms, according to a person familiar with the arrangement. Google will not take a stake or any controlling interest in Windsurf, the person added. Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan, co-founder Douglas Chen, and some members of the coding tool's research and development team will join Google's DeepMind AI division. The deal followed months of discussions Windsurf was having with OpenAI to sell itself in a deal that could value it at $3 billion, highlighting the interest in the code-generation space which has emerged as one of the fastest-growing AI applications, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters in June. OpenAI could not be immediately reached for a comment. The former Windsurf team will focus on agentic coding initiatives at Google DeepMind, primarily working on the Gemini project. "We're excited to welcome some top AI coding talent from Windsurf's team to Google DeepMind to advance our work in agentic coding," Google said in a statement. The unusual deal structure marks a win for backers for Windsurf, which has raised $243 million from investors including Kleiner Perkins, Greenoaks and General Catalyst, and was last valued at $1.25 billion one year ago, according to PitchBook. Windsurf investors will receive liquidity through the license fee and retain their stakes in the company, sources told Reuters. 'ACQUIHIRE' DEALS Google's surprise swoop mirrors its deal in August 2024 to hire key employees from chatbot startup Big Tech peers, including Microsoft, Amazon and Meta, have similarly taken to these so-called acquihire deals, which some have criticized as an attempt to evade regulatory scrutiny. Microsoft struck a $650 million deal with Inflection AI in March 2024, to use the AI startup's models and hire its staff, while Amazon hired AI firm Adept's co-founders and some of its team last June. Meta took a 49 per cent stake in Scale AI in June in the biggest test yet of this increasing form of business partnerships. Unlike acquisitions that would give the buyer a controlling stake, these deals do not require a review by U.S. antitrust regulators. However, they could probe the deal if they believe it was structured to avoid those requirements or harm competition. Many of the deals have since become the subject of regulatory probes. The development comes as tech giants, including Alphabet and Meta, aggressively chase high-profile acquisitions and offer multi-million-dollar pay packages to attract top talent in the race to lead the next wave of AI. Windsurf's head of business, Jeff Wang, has been appointed its interim CEO, and Graham Moreno, vice president of global sales, will be president, effective immediately. The majority of Windsurf's roughly 250 employees will remain with the company, which has announced plans to prioritize innovation for its enterprise clients.
CNA
5 hours ago
- CNA
Google to pay $2.4 billion in deal to license tech of Windsurf, WSJ reports
Google has agreed to pay about $2.4 billion in a deal to license the technology of artificial intelligence-assisted coding tool Windsurf, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Reuters could not immediately confirm the report. Earlier on Friday, a Google spokesperson told Reuters that the company has hired Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan, co-founder Douglas Chen, and select members of the coding tool's research and development team to join its DeepMind division, in a move to strengthen itself in the race for AI leadership.
CNA
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China foreign minister Wang Yi slams South China Sea ruling as ‘farce' at regional meeting
KUALA LUMPUR: Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi restated Beijing's rejection of the 2016 South China Sea arbitration ruling on Friday (Jul 11), on the eve of the ruling's ninth anniversary, amid renewed tensions and growing speculation about a potential second legal challenge. Calling the decision a 'farce', Wang said the case, brought by the Philippines against China 's South China Sea claims and ruled on by a tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, was 'orchestrated and manipulated by external powers'. Their purpose 'was to destabilise the South China Sea for their own benefit', Wang said during the annual East Asian Summit foreign ministers' meeting in Kuala Lumpur. He said China works to maintain stability in the region and has been speeding up the negotiation of a binding South China Sea code of conduct with Asean. 'All attempts to stir up trouble or sow discord will ultimately fail,' he added at the meeting attended by top diplomats of 18 countries, including the 10 ASEAN member states and the United States. The Philippines filed the case with the court in 2013, but Beijing refused to participate. The court, in China's absence, ruled on Jul 12, 2016, in support of most of the Philippines' submissions, including its contention that China's extensive claim via the 'nine-dash line' appearing on Chinese maps since 1953 was invalid under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Additionally, the court ruled that China's land reclamation projects in the area were environmentally harmful. The ruling also held that no land features in the disputed Spratly Islands could be classified as 'islands', meaning that China could not claim exclusive economic zones around the reefs it occupies, while the Philippines could extend its zone from its coastline to include those reefs. Despite having signed UNCLOS in 1982 and ratified it in 1996, China strongly rejected the ruling and improved ties with former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte by 'putting aside' the ruling during his 2016-2022 term. However, tension has escalated since the current Philippine president, Ferdinand Marcos Jnr, took office. It has been reported that Manila is considering filing a new UN arbitration regarding the maritime conflicts. In his remarks on Friday, Wang repeated China's declaration of 'four noes' in the case – no acceptance, no participation, no recognition and no implementation. He contended that the case addressed the issues of territorial sovereignty and maritime delimitation, which exceed the jurisdiction of both UNCLOS and the arbitration tribunal's authority. China and other major world powers, he said, had excluded maritime delimitation when they joined the convention. 'The tribunal's handling constituted an overreach, abusing the convention's dispute resolution mechanism and undermining international maritime rule of law. They are violating the convention under the banner of the convention,' Wang said. He added that the Philippines did not seek prior consultations with China before filing to the tribunal, and that therefore the initiation of the arbitration was legally flawed. He also accused Manila of breaking its commitment to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China calls for South China Sea disputes to be solved through dialogue, as well as its bilateral promises to Beijing. Wang also condemned the tribunal's 'flawed and erroneous' decision to classify the Taiping Island (Itu Aba) of the Spratlys – a 0.5-square-kilometre island with fresh water and vegetation occupied by Taiwan – as a 'rock' that could not sustain an exclusive economic zone. 'If this standard were applied globally, the international maritime order would be rewritten, potentially depriving many nations ... of their maritime rights,' he said, referring to how the reefs of countries like the US and Japan would similarly lose their basis for claiming maritime rights and interests. "Would these countries be willing to give up their claims as well?" Besides the Philippines, three other ASEAN members – Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam – have competing claims with China in the South China Sea. Beijing sees the self-governed island of Taiwan as a rogue province, to be reunited eventually with the mainland, by force if necessary.
