The developer of ChatGPT, OpenAI, has seen its acquisition of the artificial intelligence (AI) coding startup Windsurf fall through, according to the technology media outlet The Verge, reported on Nov. 11 (local time).
According to the report, OpenAI's exclusive negotiation period for the acquisition of Windsurf recently ended, and Google recruited Windsurf's chief executive officer (CEO) and key engineers.
Windsurf is a software development company that assists developers with coding using AI, and OpenAI was pursuing its acquisition for approximately $3 billion (4.1 trillion won).
The reason behind the failure of OpenAI's acquisition of Windsurf is not known. However, it is reported that the weakening partnership between OpenAI and its largest investor, Microsoft (MS), may have influenced the outcome.
According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), MS currently has access to all of OpenAI's intellectual property (IP), but OpenAI did not want MS to secure Windsurf's AI coding technology.
While OpenAI's acquisition of Windsurf fell through, it appears that Google has effectively taken control of Windsurf.
Google has recruited Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan, co-founder Douglas Chen, and key researchers.
A Google spokesperson stated, "We are very pleased that the top AI coding talent from the Windsurf team has joined Google DeepMind and look forward to them advancing our 'agent-based coding' research."
Mohan and Chen noted, "We have joined Google DeepMind with some of the Windsurf team and are proud of the achievements that Windsurf has built over the past four years, and we are excited to start the next phase with a world-class team."
Google did not acquire equity in Windsurf or control the company but secured licenses for some of Windsurf's technology. Windsurf will also be able to freely license its technology to other corporations outside of Google.
About 250 employees, mostly remaining, will continue to provide AI coding tool services aimed at corporate clients.