Cognition, the artificial intelligence startup behind the AI coding agent Devin, announced today its acquisition of Windsurf, an AI coding company. This move comes just days after Windsurf’s CEO and several other senior employees joined Google.
On Monday, Cognition confirmed it would buy Windsurf’s IP, product, trademark, brand, and talent. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
This deal marks the latest development in an escalating AI talent war, where major players such as Meta, Google, and OpenAI are fiercely competing for top engineering and research talent. And earlier this year, OpenAI reportedly entered talks to acquire Windsurf for approximately $3 billion in April, but the deal fell through. This past Friday, Google announced it had hired Windsurf’s co-founder and CEO, Varun Mohan.
Cognition CEO Scott Wu wrote in a memo that every new employee of Cognition will be treated “the same way as existing employees: with transparency, fairness, and deep respect for their abilities and value.”
Cognition is known for its AI coding agent called Devin. This tool is designed to help engineers build software more rapidly.
“I’m overwhelmed with excitement and optimism, but most of all, gratitude,” said Jeff Wang, Windsurf’s interim CEO in a post on X. “Trying times reveal character, and I couldn’t be prouder of how every single person at Windsurf showed up these last three days for each other and for our users.”
