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Windsurf's Douglas Chen, Varun Mohan Hired by Google in $2.4 Bil. Deal
By Tom Kagy | 12 Jul, 2025
The AI coding startup will receive a $2.4 billion licensing fee while co-founders Varun Mohan and Douglas Chen will go to work in Google's DeepMind division.
As tech giants race for the lead in AI development, Google shifted into high gear in the competition for talent and technology by paying $2.4 billion for a non-exclusive license from startup Windsurf for its AI code editing technology.
The deal allows Google to hire Windsurf co-founders Douglas Chen and Varun Mohan, along with several other key Windsurf staffers, to work in Google's DeepMind division to accelerate agentic AI development.
The deal comes in the immediate wake of the collapse of a $3 bil. deal in which OpenAI was to acquire Windsurf outright. The deal was quashed by Microsoft which owns a controlling stake in Open AI because Open AI sought to exclude Windsurf technology from being accessed by Microsoft, essentially changing the terms of their existing agreement which allows Microsoft full access to all Open AI technology.
Windsurf, founded in 2021 by the MIT classmates, was originally named Codeium until it was changed to Windsurft in April, just before talks began with OpenAI.
The loss of the Windsurf deal is another blow for OpenAI which recently suffered poaching by Meta of 7 top AI engineers, 5 of them Chinese.
The deal leaves Windsurf to continue independent operation under interim CEO Jeff Wang. The Google licensing deal is non-exclusive, leaving the technology available for licensing by others. This suggests that Google views the talents of Chen and Mohan as key to optimizing the licensed Windsurf technology.
The loss of the Windsurf deal is another blow for OpenAI which recently suffered poaching by Meta of 7 top AI engineers, 5 of them Chinese.
Varun Mohan was Windsurf's co-founder and CEO before being hired by Google DeepMind.
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