Google DeepMind Hires Windsurf Top Brass After OpenAI Fails to Acquire Start-Up

Google parent Alphabet has hired several key staff members from AI code generation start-up Windsurf, according to Reuters. Among those brought on board are Indian-origin Varun Mohan, Windsurf’s co-founder and CEO, as well as fellow co-founder Douglas Chen. The move follows an attempt by rival OpenAI to acquire the start-up.

Very excited to share that @windsurf_ai co-founders @_mohansolo & Douglas Chen, and some of their talented team have joined @GoogleDeepMind to help advance our work in agentic coding in Gemini. Welcome to our new teammates from Windsurf!" wrote Koray Kavukcuoglu, chief technology office at Google DeepMind, in a post on X.

Demis Hassabis, Co-Founder and CEO at Google DeepMind, also joined in and expressed his excitement to work with them to "turbocharge our Gemini efforts on coding agents, tool use and much more."

The deal followed months of discussions between Windsurf and OpenAI over a potential acquisition that could have valued the startup at $3bn. But the deal could not be finalised due to tensions between OpenAI and its biggest investor, Microsoft. OpenAI was reluctant for Microsoft to gain access to Windsurf’s intellectual property, which became a key sticking point in the negotiations, especially as OpenAI restructures into a commercial entity. Under the existing agreement between the two, Microsoft is entitled to access OpenAI’s technology.

Reportedly, Google is paying $2.4bn in license fees as part of the deal to use some of Windsurf's technology under non-exclusive terms, the news agency said. However, Google will not take a stake or any controlling interest in Windsurf.

An OpenAI spokesperson confirmed to Bloomberg that the exclusivity period on the acquisition offer had lapsed which left Windsurf free to consider other bids.

Windsurf is among several new age companies that have built AI-based coding assistants to allow users to write code based on natural language prompts. Founded in 2021, the startup has raised over $200mn from investors such as Greenoaks Capital Partners and AIX Ventures.