Google hires Windsurf execs in $2.4 billion deal

Google is rapidly looking to hire AI talents. The company has already hired several key staff members from AI code generation startup Windsurf, the companies announced on Friday, in a surprise move following an attempt by its rival OpenAI to acquire the startup.

Google Windsurf execs deal

In terms of payscale, Google is currently paying $2.4 billion in license fees as part of the deal to use some of Windsurf’s technology under non-exclusive terms, according to a person familiar with the arrangement. Google will not take a stake or any controlling interest in Windsurf, the person added.

Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan, co-founder Douglas Chen, and some members of the coding tool’s research and development team will join Google’s DeepMind AI division.

The deal followed months of discussions Windsurf was having with OpenAI to sell itself in a deal that could value it at $3 billion, highlighting the interest in the code-generation space which has emerged as one of the fastest-growing AI applications, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters in June.

“We’re excited to welcome some top AI coding talent from Windsurf’s team to Google DeepMind to advance our work in agentic coding,” Google said in a statement.

Google AI News

The unusual deal structure marks a win for backers for Windsurf, which has raised $243 million from investors including Kleiner Perkins, Greenoaks and General Catalyst, and was last valued at $1.25 billion one year ago, according to PitchBook.

Google’s surprise swoop mirrors its deal in August 2024 to hire key employees from chatbot startup Character.AI.
Big Tech peers, including Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab, Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab and Meta (META.O), opens new tab, have similarly taken to these so-called acquihire deals, which some have criticized as an attempt to evade regulatory scrutiny.