Google from Alphabet Inc. Close a deal to pay around $ 2.4 billion for top talent and license rights of artificial intelligence coding startup windsurfing after the collapse of the Windsurf agreement that must be purchased by Google’s Rival OpenAI, according to people who are familiar with the issue.
Google hires Windsurf Chief Executive Officer Varun Mohan and co-founder Douglas Chen, together with a small group of employees, to work on the DeepMind Artificial Intelligence Unit, according to a statement Friday. The company refused to comment on the financial conditions, of which it was not to take an interest in windsurf.
Windsurf was previously agreed to be purchased by OpenAI for $ 3 billion, but the deal unraveled partially due to voltage with Microsoft Corp., an important OpenAI investor, said that people with knowledge of the case, who asked for not being identified about private deliberations and purchasing conditions.
Windsurf did not want Microsoft to have access to his intellectual property – a condition that OpenAi was not successful in obtaining the Microsoft agreement, said people who were known. That was one of the many bottlenecks in the constant conversations of Microsoft and OpenAi about the efforts of the AI company to restructure in a commercial entity. The existing Microsoft agreement with OpenAI says that the software giant is entitled to access to the technology of the startup.
OpenAi thought it had an agreement with Windsurf and almost announced the acquisition at the beginning of May, according to people who are familiar with the deal. There had been a signed declaration of intent and Windsurf -Investors got what is known as waterfall agreements, where each party was informed how much money they were expected, the people said.
A spokesperson for OpenAi said on Friday that the exclusivity period for the acquisition box had expired, which made Windsurf free to consider other bids. Microsoft and Windsurf refused to comment.
Large technology companies have picked up managers and technology to promise AI startups as part of deals that stop with full acquisitions – movements that some critics said were structured to prevent antitrust research.
Last year, Microsoft hired the founders and many of the staff of Vervoiging AI and gave a license from the company’s AI software. Amazon.com Inc. CEO managers and other employees from Startup Adept Ai Labs Inc. And Google applied to the co-founders of Character.ai as part of a license agreement. Despite the structures of the transactions, government rules have opened probes for some of these types of deals.
Last month Meta Platforms Inc. A 49 percent interest in AI Data-Labeling Startup Scale AI for more than $ 14 billion and hired co-founder Alexandr Wang for a new team building AI “Superintelligence”. Since then, Meta has recruited other Top AI managers of Rivals Google, OpenAi and Apple Inc. While the technology leaders escalate their efforts to surpass each other.
Meta has made unprecedented compensation offers, because it wants to find a talent for his Superintelligence Lab, including a package of more than $ 200 million for a former Apple Distinguished Engineer.
Windsurf, Formal Exa function Inc. Called, is part of a harvest of startups that are able to write AI-driven coding assistants that are able to write tasks such as writing code based on natural language that is requested. Windsurf founded in 2021, according to PitchBook data, has collected more than $ 200 million in risk capital financing. Other investors are Greenoaks Capital Partners and Aix Ventures.
Bloomberg News initially reported in April that OpenAi was in conversation to buy windsurf.
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Published on July 12, 2025
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