Recently, Cognition announced the acquisition of the AI programming startup Windsurf, a move that has undoubtedly shaken the tech industry. Just days ago, Windsurf's CEO Varun Mohan and several other key team members were poached by Google in a "reverse acquisition" worth $2.4 billion, while OpenAI had previously offered a $3 billion acquisition deal that fell through at the last moment. These events have made Windsurf's fate very dramatic.
Cognition did not disclose the exact price of the acquisition, but they revealed that Windsurf's annual recurring revenue (ARR) has reached $82 million, with a rapidly growing number of customers, now including 350 enterprise clients and hundreds of thousands of daily active users. Jeff Wang, former business head of Windsurf, said on LinkedIn that joining the Cognition team was a great opportunity, as both companies share similar values in vision and commitment to users.
Windsurf will continue to develop its AI-driven integrated development environment (IDE), while Cognition will integrate Windsurf's technology with its own AI coding assistant, Devin. Windsurf previously faced challenges due to limited access to AI models, but they will now regain access to the Claude AI model, which is expected to drive business growth.
Notably, after acquiring Windsurf, Cognition has also gained new clients, including Wall Street giants like Goldman Sachs. This acquisition not only enhances Cognition's competitiveness in the AI programming field, but also solidifies its position in the industry. With the rapid expansion of the AI programming tools market, Cognition's strategic moves are becoming increasingly important.
This acquisition has placed Cognition in a more favorable position in its competition with giants such as OpenAI and Anthropic, and the future market performance is highly anticipated.