Cognition acquires AI coding startup Windsurf, gaining its IP, talent, and user base, strengthening its position to compete with OpenAI, Cursor, and Anthropic.

Cognition is acquiring Windsurf days after Google DeepMind hired its CEO and research leaders, and months after OpenAI offered to buy it.

In an unexpected turn of events, artificial intelligence startup Cognition announced this week that it is acquiring AI coding startup Windsurf, just days after news that OpenAI’s planned $3 billion buy of Windsurf had fallen apart.

Windsurf faces acquisition by Cognition AI. This follows a collapsed deal with OpenAI. Google hired Windsurf's CEO Varun Mohan and co-founder Douglas Chen. Google DeepMind also secured a license to Windsurf's tech for $2.

Windsurf is an AI-powered developer tool that enables users to build full-stack applications using natural language prompts. They compete with Cursor and

OpenAI is the world's leading AI startup. For how long will depend on how well it fends off multi-front attacks from competitors like Meta and Google.