Windsurf AI engineer Prem Nair says he ditched Google offer because of payout issues, joined Cognition
Nair revealed that he was employee No 2 at Windsurf and played a key role in its AI+code initiatives. He was also among dozens of staffers caught in the wake of the company's rapid unravelling.The ongoing drama around Windsurf comes after the company recently had its dealing with OpenAI and Google. It was once poised for a $3 billion acquisition by OpenAI, but that deal collapsed allegedly due to Microsoft's demands over intellectual property. Google quickly intervened with an 'acqui-hire,' netting Windsurf's founders including CEO Varun Mohan and co-founder Douglas Chen, and securing a non-exclusive licence to its core technology and 42 of its top engineers for DeepMind. The company also reportedly signed a $2.4 billion non-exclusive technology licence with Windsurf.However, the deal has left over 200 employees, including early team members, getting little or no compensation from it.Now, Nair is adding to the buzz. He has rejected Google and has joined Cognition AI, creators of the Devin coding agent, as the company looks to expand its position in AI-driven software development. 'There's never been a more exciting time and place for it than now at Cognition,' he wrote. 'It reminds me of the energy of the earliest days of Windsurf, where we wrote excessive amounts of code and had excessive amounts of fun.'Notably, Cognition recently acquired what remained of Windsurf, its employees, IP, and development infrastructure, in a follow-up deal after Google scooped parts of it. Cognition has promised accelerated vesting and equity participation for remaining team members.- Ends
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