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

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.

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

Cognition acquires AI coding startup Windsurf, gaining its IP, talent, and user base, strengthening its position to compete with OpenAI, Cursor, and Anthropic.

From interning at five tech firms during college to building a billion-dollar AI startup, 28-year-old Varun Mohan’s journey triggered a ₹20,400 crore deal with Google after he rejected OpenAI’s ₹25,500 crore offer.

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.