Cognition (Devin AI) to Acquire Windsurf

What actually got bought?

• Many are confused by the sequence: OpenAI’s rumored deal collapses → Google pays ~$2.4–2.5B for a perpetual license plus an acquihire of the founders/top talent → Cognition now “acquires Windsurf.”
• Commenters debate whether Cognition is buying a hollow shell (brand, IP, remaining staff, user base) while Google already took the key people and long‑term rights to the tech.
• Some speculate this is an example of a “blitzhire” structure: big tech gets talent + IP license quickly while avoiding full M&A scrutiny.

Where did the billions go, and did employees get shafted?

• Strong disagreement over who benefits from the Google money: many assume most went to investors and the execs who left for Google, with “left‑behind” employees getting little.
• Cognition’s blog claims 100% of Windsurf employees “participate financially” with cliffs waived and vesting accelerated, but commenters call this PR‑speak without numbers; “participate financially” could still mean trivial sums or illiquid stock.
• Some argue this outcome is still better than a typical failed startup; others say it poisons trust in startups if founders can cash out via backdoor deals while rank‑and‑file are stranded.

Impact on products and users

• Users ask what happens to Windsurf’s IDE and plugins, especially JetBrains support. Some fans say Windsurf’s agentic behavior, tab model, and code indexing were superior to Cursor; others report almost no adoption in their circles.
• Several say the rapid ownership churn makes Windsurf hard to trust going forward and expect higher prices, nerfing, or eventual shutdown.
• Devin itself is polarizing: some call it overhyped and underwhelming; others report using it successfully for smaller features.

Valuations, moats, and “AI bubble” concerns

• Commenters question the logic of paying billions for licenses and for “AI software engineer” wrappers with no clear moat over foundation model providers or IDE vendors.
• Many see this as strong evidence of an AI bubble disconnected from fundamentals; others counter that real revenue (e.g., from leading model labs) and personal productivity gains justify large bets, even if many players will still be wiped out.
• There is broad skepticism that tools like Devin/Windsurf have durable defensibility if model providers or Microsoft/JetBrains decide to bundle comparable agents directly.