Google Bolsters AI Capabilities with $2.4 Billion Talent Acquisition of Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan and Other Key Executives

Google has announced a significant addition to its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities, with the acquisition of Varun Mohan, co-founder and CEO of AI coding startup Windsurf. The agreement also includes the hiring of several senior research and development employees from Windsurf.

In contrast to previous reports suggesting a potential $3 billion acquisition by OpenAI, Google will not be investing in Windsurf. Instead, the company will acquire a nonexclusive license to certain Windsurf technology, while allowing the startup to continue licensing its technology to other parties. The deal is reportedly valued at $2.4 billion, covering both licensing fees and compensation.

A Google spokesperson stated, “We are thrilled to welcome top AI coding talent from Windsurf’s team to Google DeepMind. Our aim is to further advance our work in agentic coding and continue bringing the benefits of Gemini to software developers globally.”

The acquisition follows negotiations between Windsurf and OpenAI that expired without a completed acquisition, as reported by CNBC in April. Meanwhile, Meta has extended lucrative job offers to several employees at OpenAI, while also investing $14.3 billion into Scale AI, with Alexandr Wang leading its AI strategy.

Douglas Chen, another co-founder of Windsurf, is among those joining Google in the deal. In a post on X, Jeff Wang, the startup’s new interim CEO and head of business for the past two years, announced that most of Windsurf’s world-class team will continue to develop the Windsurf product with a focus on maximizing its impact in the enterprise.

Windsurf has gained popularity this year as a leader in “vibe coding,” a process utilizing modern AI tools for code writing. This trend has led to increased revenue for Windsurf and competitors, such as Cursor, attracting significant interest from investors and contributing to higher valuations for these startups.

Google has a history of acquiring talent from promising startups, having previously hired select individuals from Character.AI last summer. Similarly, Amazon and Microsoft have absorbed AI talent in the past through deals with Adept and Inflection, respectively.

Microsoft is currently pushing an agent mode in its Visual Studio Code editor for vibe coding, with CEO Satya Nadella stating that AI composes as much as 30% of his company’s code. The Verge reported the Google-Windsurf deal earlier today.