Cognition to buy Windsurf after Google's reverse-acquihire $2.4 billion deal

Cognition to buy Windsurf after Google's reverse-acquihire $2.4 billion deal

15 Jul 2025, 01:39 PM

Cognition said that the acquisition includes Windsurf’s IP, product, trademark and brand, and strong business without revealing the financial transactions.

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Artificial intelligence startup Cognition said it has agreed to acquire Windsurf, as its seeks to strengthen its position in the software engineering market.

The acquisition of Windsurf comes just days after Google hired Windsurf's CEO Varun Mohan and research leaders in a $2.4 billion reverse-acquihire deal sans Windsurf's 250-person team.

In a blog post, Cognition said that the acquisition includes Windsurf’s IP, product, trademark and brand, and strong business without revealing the financial transactions.

"Above all, it includes Windsurf’s world-class people, some of the best talent in our industry, whom we’re privileged to welcome to our team," it added.

The Windsurf team will continue to operate as they have been in the immediate term. In the coming months, it will invest heavily in integrating Windsurf’s capabilities and unique IP into Cognition’s products, it added.

The acquisition follows a series of dramatic events for Windsurf.

Notably, OpenAI had been negotiating to acquire Windsurf for approximately $3 billion in April, but those discussions ultimately collapsed. Google then stepped in last week, announcing it had hired Windsurf's co-founder and CEO Varun Mohan along with other senior employees, paying $2.4 billion in licensing fees and compensation packages.

The blog post also noted that Windsurf will now have full access to the latest Anthropic Claude models.

Anthropic had cut Windsurf's access to Claude AI last month following the reports that its rival OpenAI was close to buying Windsurf.

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