Cognition Scores Windsurf After Mega-Deals With Google & OpenAI Fizzle

AI coding startup Cognition has confirmed its acquisition of rival Windsurf, capturing its IP, product, brand, and remaining talent in a blockbuster move following a turbulent week for the smaller firm.

The acquisition arrives in the wake of a dramatic series of events: Google struck a $2.4 billion “reverse-acquihire” deal—bringing over Windsurf’s CEO Varun Mohan, co-founder Douglas Chen, and key researchers—just after a collapsed $3 billion acquisition attempt by OpenAI.

Jeff Wang, Windsurf’s interim CEO, described Cognition as the "perfect fit" in a company message on Monday: “To our new teammates at Cognition: we at Windsurf feel incredibly lucky to be joining a team that shares our vision, our deep commitment to our users, and — most importantly — our values.”

Windsurf brings $82 million in annual recurring revenue, boasts over 350 enterprise clients, and hundreds of thousands of daily users. Meanwhile, Cognition, backed by Khosla Ventures and Founders Fund, is valued at around $4 billion and plans to integrate Windsurf into its flagship autonomous coding agent, Devin, combining IDE and agentic capabilities.

For now, Windsurf will run independently, but Cognition intends to merge its technology and IP "over the coming months," boosting Devin’s power.

As the AI coding space heats up, this deal highlights escalating competition and consolidation—with Google, OpenAI, Cognition, and others racing to secure talent and tools in the next-gen developer toolkit sweepstakes.