Three weeks after acquiring Windsurf, Cognition offers staff the exit door

Cognition Offers Buyouts to Windsurf Employees After Recent Layoffs

In a surprising turn of events, Cognition, the AI coding startup that recently acquired Windsurf, has reportedly laid off 30 employees and is now offering buyouts to the remaining staff, according to The Information.

This move comes as a shock to Windsurf employees who have already experienced a rollercoaster ride in recent times. Initially on the brink of being acquired by OpenAI, Windsurf then saw its CEO, co-founder, and research leads depart for Google in a reverse-acquihire deal worth $2.4 billion before ultimately being acquired by Cognition.

When Cognition acquired Windsurf, it was announced that all employees would receive financial compensation as part of the deal. However, it now appears that the real focus of the acquisition was on Windsurf’s intellectual property rather than its talented workforce.

Employees have been given until August 10 to decide whether to accept the buyout, which amounts to nine months of salary. Those who opt to stay are facing demanding conditions, including six days in the office and 80+ hour workweeks – a trend that is becoming increasingly common among top AI firms.

Cognition CEO Scott Wu defended the intense work schedule, stating, “We don’t believe in work-life balance. Building the future of software engineering is a mission we all care deeply about, and we cannot separate the two.”

JS has reached out to Cognition for further details on the situation.