Google Hires Windsurf CEO in $2.4 Billion AI Talent Deal

Google has announced a $2.4 billion agreement to bring in Varun Mohan, the co-founder and CEO of AI coding startup Windsurf, along with several senior R&D team members. The move highlights Google’s aggressive push in the ongoing AI talent wars among tech giants.

Google Acquires Talent, Not the Company

Unlike traditional acquisitions, Google is not buying Windsurf outright. Instead, the $2.4 billion deal covers licensing fees and compensation for key personnel, according to a source familiar with the matter. The search giant will obtain a non-exclusive license to certain technologies developed by Windsurf, which remains free to license its tech to other partners.

In a statement, a Google spokesperson said:

“We’re excited to welcome some top AI coding talent from Windsurf’s team to Google DeepMind to advance our work in agentic coding. We’re excited to continue bringing the benefits of Gemini to software developers everywhere.”

Windsurf Previously in Talks with OpenAI

Before the Google deal, Windsurf had been in exclusive talks with OpenAI over a potential $3 billion acquisition, according to CNBC. However, that exclusivity period expired without a final agreement, an OpenAI spokesperson confirmed.

This hiring move adds fuel to the increasingly intense battle for top AI talent, especially as companies race to build the next generation of AI-driven tools and platforms.

Meta, Microsoft, and Others Join the Race

Google’s announcement follows other major moves in the AI space. Meta recently hired several employees from OpenAI and tapped Alexandr Wang, founder of Scale AI, to lead its AI strategy as part of a $14.3 billion investment into his company.

Microsoft is also expanding aggressively, integrating AI into Visual Studio Code and reporting that AI now writes up to 30% of its source code, according to CEO Satya Nadella.

Windsurf Team Partially Joins Google, Continues Building

Douglas Chen, Windsurf’s co-founder, will also join Google, as confirmed by Jeff Wang, the company’s new interim CEO and head of business for the past two years. In a post on X, Wang wrote:

“Most of Windsurf’s world-class team will continue to build the Windsurf product with the goal of maximizing its impact in the enterprise.”

Windsurf gained popularity in 2024 as a pioneer in “vibe coding” – an emerging coding style where users employ modern AI tools to generate code intuitively, often without deep technical skills. Competitors like Cursor have also entered the market, with both companies drawing interest from investors and tech giants alike.

A Strategic Talent Acquisition

This isn’t the first time Google has hired elite teams instead of buying full companies. A similar approach was taken with Character.AI in 2023. Amazon and Microsoft have also made similar moves, absorbing AI talent via their deals with Adept and Inflection, respectively.

By bringing in top talent from Windsurf and selectively licensing its technology, Google is strengthening its DeepMind division without the regulatory and operational complexity of a full acquisition.