OpenAI has agreed to acquire artificial intelligence-assisted coding tool Windsurf for approximately $3 billion, marking the ChatGPT maker’s largest acquisition to date, according to sources cited by Bloomberg.
Windsurf, formally called Exafunction Inc. and formerly known as Codeium, had recently been in talks with investors including Kleiner Perkins and General Catalyst to raise funding at a $3 billion valuation. The company was previously valued at $1.25 billion in a funding round led by General Catalyst last August.
The deal would complement ChatGPT’s coding capabilities. OpenAI has been rolling out improvements in coding with each new model release, but faces increasing competition in the market for AI-driven coding assistants.
The acquisition could help OpenAI strengthen its position against rivals including Anthropic and Microsoft-owned Github, which both offer AI tools for programmers. Investors have also directed significant funding towards startups offering similar tools, including Anysphere, the company behind Cursor.
OpenAI recently finalised a $40 billion financing round led by SoftBank Group Corp, valuing the company at $300 billion. The company’s weekly active users reportedly surged past 400 million in February, a significant increase from the 300 million weekly active users recorded in December.
On Monday, OpenAI announced it was abandoning plans to restructure as a more conventional for-profit business following public pushback spearheaded by Elon Musk.
