AI coding startup Cognition acquired fellow AI startup Windsurf’s mental property, product, and employees final month in a cope with an undisclosed worth.
This week, The Info reported that after chopping 30 staff from the Windsurf crew final week, Cognition is giving the remaining 200-person group a alternative: Settle for a buyout equal to 9 months’ wage, or keep on the crew and work lengthy hours, not less than six days or 80 hours every week. In keeping with an inside e mail seen by the outlet, Windsurf staff have till August 10 to determine to remain or take the buyout.
Associated: OpenAI Is Buying Former Apple Designer Jony Ive’s Startup for $6.5 Billion
“We do not consider in work-life stability — constructing the way forward for software program engineering is a mission all of us care so deeply about that we could not probably separate the 2,” Cognition CEO Scott Wu wrote in an e mail, seen by the outlet.
Wu additional backed up his stance in a put up on X on Tuesday, which acknowledged that Cognition has “an excessive efficiency tradition” and that the corporate is “upfront” in regards to the ambiance when hiring.
“We routinely are on the workplace via the weekend and do a few of our greatest work late into the night time,” Wu wrote within the put up. “Many people actually dwell the place we work… we perceive it isn’t for everybody.”
A typical buyout begins at 4 weeks of pay, plus a further week for yearly spent on the firm, in accordance with CNBC. 9 months is a better buyout than typical.
Folks have requested about our tradition and up to date worker communications. Cognition has an excessive efficiency tradition, and we’re upfront about this in hiring so there are not any surprises later. We routinely are on the workplace via the weekend and do a few of our greatest work late into…
— Scott Wu (@ScottWu46) August 5, 2025
Windsurf has confronted a turbulent few months. The startup was initially in talks with OpenAI for a $3 billion acquisition, however the deal fell aside in early July.
Then, Google stepped in and agreed to pay $2.4 billion in trade for nonexclusive licensing rights to Windsurf’s know-how and entry to Windsurf expertise to hitch Google’s AI effort. Google employed CEO Varun Mohan, co-founder Douglas Chen, and a choose group of researchers from Windsurf as part of the deal. The remainder of Windsurf was in the end acquired by Cognition on July 14.
Associated: Google Swoops in to Make a $2.4 Billion Deal With a Startup Beforehand Promised to OpenAI
Windsurf, which claims that its AI code editor is “essentially the most highly effective approach to code with AI,” has greater than 1,000,000 worldwide customers.
Cognition, in the meantime, asserts that it has constructed the primary AI software program engineer that may act autonomously to have interaction with customers via Slack and GitHub. After a March funding spherical, the startup’s valuation rose to $4 billion, crossing the $1 billion threshold and making it a unicorn.
Be part of high CEOs, founders and operators on the Degree Up convention to unlock methods for scaling your enterprise, boosting income and constructing sustainable success.
AI coding startup Cognition acquired fellow AI startup Windsurf’s mental property, product, and employees final month in a cope with an undisclosed worth.
This week, The Info reported that after chopping 30 staff from the Windsurf crew final week, Cognition is giving the remaining 200-person group a alternative: Settle for a buyout equal to 9 months’ wage, or keep on the crew and work lengthy hours, not less than six days or 80 hours every week. In keeping with an inside e mail seen by the outlet, Windsurf staff have till August 10 to determine to remain or take the buyout.
Associated: OpenAI Is Buying Former Apple Designer Jony Ive’s Startup for $6.5 Billion
The remainder of this text is locked.
Be part of Entrepreneur+ right now for entry.
