Windsurf’s CEO goes to Google; OpenAI’s acquisition falls apart
Windsurf 的 CEO 跳槽到 Google 了；OpenAI 的收購案也告吹了

OpenAI’s deal to acquire the viral AI coding startup Windsurf for $3 billion fell apart on Friday, according to The Verge.
根據 The Verge 的報導，OpenAI 原本要花 30 億美元收購超夯的 AI 程式設計新創公司 Windsurf，結果這筆交易在上週五破局了。

In a shocking twist, Google DeepMind is now hiring Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan, co-founder Douglas Chen, and some of the startup’s top researchers. A Google spokesperson confirmed the hiring of Windsurf’s leaders in a statement to TechCrunch.
結果超展開的是，Google DeepMind 現在竟然把 Windsurf 的 CEO Varun Mohan、共同創辦人 Douglas Chen，還有一些這家新創公司的頂尖研究員都挖角過去了。Google 的發言人也向 TechCrunch 證實了這項人事異動。

Notably, Google is not taking a stake in Windsurf and will not have any control over the company. However, as part of the deal, Google will have a nonexclusive license to certain Windsurf technology, meaning the AI coding startup remains free to license its technology to others.
值得注意的是，Google 並沒有入股 Windsurf，也不會控制這家公司。不過，這項協議的一部分是，Google 會取得 Windsurf 部分技術的非獨家授權，這表示這家 AI 程式設計新創公司還是可以自由地把技術授權給其他人。

Bloomberg reports that Google is paying $2.4 billion to license Windsurf’s technology and hire its top employees.
彭博社報導說，Google 花了 24 億美元來取得 Windsurf 的技術授權並挖角他們的頂尖員工。

“We’re excited to welcome some top AI coding talent from Windsurf’s team to Google DeepMind to advance our work in agentic coding,” said Google spokesperson Chris Pappas in an email to TechCrunch.
Google 發言人 Chris Pappas 在給 TechCrunch 的一封電子郵件中說：「我們很高興能歡迎 Windsurf 團隊的一些頂尖 AI 程式設計人才加入 Google DeepMind，一起推進我們在 agentic coding 方面的工作。」

The deal represents the AI ecosystem’s latest reverse-acquihire, in which a company hires a startup’s top talent and licenses its technology but does not outright acquire the company. Google previously conducted a similar deal to hire back Character.AI CEO Noam Shazeer, as did Microsoft to hire Mustafa Suleyman. These deals have helped several Big Tech companies increase their position in the AI race without drawing regulatory scrutiny.
這筆交易代表了 AI 生態系最新的「反向收購」（reverse-acquihire），也就是一家公司挖角新創公司的頂尖人才並取得技術授權，但沒有直接收購整家公司。Google 之前也曾用類似的方式把 Character.AI 的 CEO Noam Shazeer 挖回來，Microsoft 也挖角了 Mustafa Suleyman。這些交易幫助幾家大型科技公司在 AI 競賽中提升地位，同時避免受到監管機構的審查。

“We are excited to be joining Google DeepMind along with some of the Windsurf team,” said Mohan and Chen in a statement to TechCrunch. “We are proud of what Windsurf has built over the last four years and are excited to see it move forward with their world class team and kick-start the next phase.”
Mohan 和 Chen 在給 TechCrunch 的聲明中說：「我們很高興能和 Windsurf 團隊的一些成員一起加入 Google DeepMind。」他們還說：「我們為 Windsurf 在過去四年裡所建立的一切感到驕傲，也很期待看到它在世界級團隊的帶領下繼續前進，開啟下一個階段。」

As of Friday, Windsurf’s head of business, Jeff Wang, will take over as the startup’s interim CEO, he announced in a post on social media. Most of Windsurf’s 250 person team is not headed to Google DeepMind and will continue offering its AI coding tools for enterprise customers.
Windsurf 的業務主管 Jeff Wang 在社群媒體上發文宣布，從上週五開始，他將接任這家新創公司的臨時 CEO。Windsurf 大部分約 250 人的團隊並不會加入 Google DeepMind，他們會繼續為企業客戶提供 AI 程式設計工具。

OpenAI’s deal to acquire Windsurf has reportedly been a major tension point in the ChatGPT maker’s contract renegotiations with Microsoft. Microsoft currently has access to all of OpenAI’s intellectual property; however, OpenAI didn’t want its largest backer to get Windsurf’s AI coding technology as well, according to previous reporting from the Wall Street Journal.
據說 OpenAI 想收購 Windsurf 這件事，是他們跟 Microsoft 重新談合約時一個很大的爭議點。Microsoft 現在可以拿到 OpenAI 所有的智慧財產，但根據華爾街日報之前的報導，OpenAI 不想讓他們最大的金主也拿到 Windsurf 的 AI 寫程式技術。

Earlier on Friday, Fortune reported that the exclusivity period on OpenAI’s offer to acquire Windsurf had expired, meaning that Windsurf would now be free to explore other offers. It seems that Windsurf didn’t wait long.
禮拜五稍早，《財富》雜誌報導說，OpenAI 收購 Windsurf 的獨家談判期已經過了，這表示 Windsurf 現在可以自由地去看看其他家的條件了。看來 Windsurf 也沒等多久就決定了。

In recent months, Windsurf has been one of the hottest AI coding startups on the market. In April, the startup’s ARR reached about $100 million, TechCrunch previously reported, up from about $40 million months earlier. That rapid growth attracted suitors such as OpenAI and apparently Google.
最近這幾個月，Windsurf 根本就是市場上最夯的 AI 程式碼新創公司之一啊！TechCrunch 之前就報導過，這家新創公司在四月的時候，年化經常性收入（ARR）大概就衝到一億美元了，要知道幾個月前才四千萬美元耶！這種爆炸性的成長速度，當然就吸引到像 OpenAI 還有 Google 這種大咖來搶人了。

The addition of Mohan, Chen, and other Windsurf leaders could significantly boost Google’s ability to build AI coding tools. In recent months, AI model providers have focused more on offering AI coding applications to entice developers. Anthropic has boosted its revenue significantly on the back of its AI coding tool, Claude Code, while OpenAI continues to pitch Codex, its AI coding agent, to software engineers.

Windsurf, on the other hand, is left in a much more uncertain position as a result of this deal. Other AI startups that have seen their leaders hired away have struggled to sustain the same momentum they had beforehand. Scale AI lost customers as a result of its deal with Meta, whereas Inflection had to pivot entirely from consumer AI after its deal with Microsoft.

It seems likely that Windsurf could suffer a similar fate.

Update 7:25 pm PT: This article was updated to include the reported price Google paid Windsurf in the deal.