OpenAI in talks to pay about $3 billion to acquire AI coding startup Windsurf

OpenAI is in talks to pay about $3 billion to acquire Windsurf, a man-made intelligence device for coding assist, CNBC has confirmed.

Windsurf, previously generally known as Codeium, competes with Cursor, one other well-liked AI coding device, in addition to current AI coding options from corporations like Microsoft, Anthropic and OpenAI itself.

Bloomberg was first to report on the potential deal, which CNBC confirmed with an individual accustomed to the matter who requested to stay nameless for the reason that talks are ongoing.

OpenAI is dashing to keep forward in the generative AI race, the place opponents together with Google, Anthropic and Elon Musk’s xAI are investing closely and recurrently rolling out new merchandise. Late final month, OpenAI closed a $40 billion funding spherical, the most important on document for a personal tech firm, at a $300 billion valuation.

OpenAI on Wednesday launched its newest AI fashions, o3 and o4-mini, which it stated are able to “pondering with pictures,” that means they’ll perceive and analyze a person’s sketches and diagrams, even when they’re low high quality.

Ought to a deal happen with Windsurf, it might be by far OpenAI’s largest acquisition. The corporate has made a number of smaller offers in the previous, together with the acquisition final June of analytics database supplier Rockset and video collaboration platform Multi. In 2023, OpenAI purchased World Illumination, which had been “leveraging AI to construct artistic instruments, infrastructure, and digital experiences,” in accordance to a weblog publish when the deal was introduced. Phrases weren’t disclosed for any of these transactions.

Windsurf is among the many instruments, alongside Cursor and Replit, that builders have flocked to in current months to “vibe code,” a time period that refers to having AI fashions shortly assemble code for brand new software program. Andrej Karpathy, a former OpenAI co-founder, coined the time period in a publish on X in February. Earlier this month Microsoft, whose Visible Studio Code textual content editor is extensively used amongst programmers, introduced an Agent Mode function with comparable functionality.

The startup’s traders embody Founders Fund, Normal Catalyst, Greenoaks and Kleiner Perkins. TechCrunch reported in February that Windsurf was elevating a funding spherical at a $2.85 billion valuation.

— CNBC’s Jordan Novet contributed to this report.

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