Google just pulled a major move in the AI talent war.
The tech giant has secured key Windsurf AI talent in a $2.4 billion deal—not by buying the company, but by hiring the people behind its magic. This includes Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan, co-founder Douglas Chen, and top researchers from the startup’s coding team.
These minds will now join Google’s DeepMind team to work on agentic coding, focused mainly on the Gemini AI project.
What’s the deal really about?
Google paid $2.4 billion in license fees to use some of Windsurf’s technology. It’s not a takeover. Windsurf stays independent. But the top talent is moving to Google.
Windsurf investors—like Kleiner Perkins and General Catalyst—get their money through this licensing fee. They still own the company. So it’s a win-win for both sides.
A surprise twist in the AI race
What makes this deal spicy? OpenAI was in talks to buy Windsurf just months ago, reportedly valuing it at $3 billion. But Google moved faster. This deal shows how serious Big Tech is about winning the AI coding tools game.
This is part of a bigger trend. In 2024, Google also snapped up key people from Character AI. Microsoft did something similar with Inflection AI. Amazon hired Adept’s founders. Meta grabbed nearly half of Scale AI.
These are not normal acquisitions. They are acquihires—hiring the brain, not buying the company. This helps avoid regulatory issues, though watchdogs may still take a look.
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Why Windsurf matters
Windsurf became a hot name in the AI world by building powerful coding tools. It had raised $243 million and was last valued at $1.25 billion. Now, with its core team joining Google, the focus will shift to enterprise innovation for the remaining 250 employees.
Jeff Wang will step up as interim CEO, while Graham Moreno becomes President.
Gemini is Google’s big bet
The new Windsurf team will now help boost Google Gemini, an ambitious AI system being developed to challenge rivals like GPT and Claude. With more power, more brains, and better code generation, Gemini just got a serious upgrade.
