Explore Cognition AI’s acquisition of Windsurf and its impact on AI, software development, and employee ownership in the tech industry.

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

In a surprising move, Cognition– the makers of autonomous coding tool Devin— acquired what was left of its rival Windsurf after the company’s cofounders Varun Mohan and Douglas Chen and other staff members were poached by Google DeepMind for $2.

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.

Varun Mohan is of Indian descent, having been born and raised in Sunnyvale, California, by children of Indian immigrants. He went to The Harker School in San Jose, and then to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he earned a Bachelor's and Master of Engineering in Computer Science.

OpenAI faces an existential crisis as strategic blunders, a talent exodus to rivals like Meta, and the collapsed $3B Windsurf deal reveal deep internal turmoil.