AI Coding Startup: Work Weekends or Take a Buyout

AI coding startup Cognition acquired fellow AI startup Windsurf’s mental property, product, and employees final month in a take care of an undisclosed worth.

This week, The Information reported that after chopping 30 staff from the Windsurf workforce final week, Cognition is giving the remaining 200-person group a selection: Settle for a buyout equal to 9 months’ wage, or keep on the workforce and work lengthy hours, not less than six days or 80 hours every week. In accordance with an inner electronic mail considered by the outlet, Windsurf staff have till August 10 to resolve to remain or take the buyout.

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“We do not consider in work-life stability — constructing the way forward for software program engineering is a mission all of us care so deeply about that we could not probably separate the 2,” Cognition CEO Scott Wu wrote in an electronic mail, considered by the outlet.

Wu additional backed up his stance in a post on X on Tuesday, which acknowledged that Cognition has “an excessive efficiency tradition” and that the corporate is “upfront” concerning the ambiance when hiring.

“We routinely are on the workplace by way of the weekend and do a few of our greatest work late into the evening,” Wu wrote within the put up. “Many people actually reside the place we work… we perceive it isn’t for everybody.”

A typical buyout begins at 4 weeks of pay, plus a further week for yearly spent on the firm, in accordance with CNBC. 9 months is a better buyout than traditional.

Individuals have requested about our tradition and up to date worker communications. Cognition has an excessive efficiency tradition, and we’re upfront about this in hiring so there are not any surprises later. We routinely are on the workplace by way of the weekend and do a few of our greatest work late into…

— Scott Wu (@ScottWu46) August 5, 2025

Windsurf has confronted a turbulent few months. The startup was initially in talks with OpenAI for a $3 billion acquisition, however the deal fell apart in early July.

Then, Google stepped in and agreed to pay $2.4 billion in trade for nonexclusive licensing rights to Windsurf’s expertise and entry to Windsurf expertise to affix Google’s AI effort. Google employed CEO Varun Mohan, co-founder Douglas Chen, and a choose group of researchers from Windsurf as part of the deal. The remainder of Windsurf was ultimately acquired by Cognition on July 14.

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Windsurf, which claims that its AI code editor is “essentially the most highly effective option to code with AI,” has greater than 1,000,000 worldwide customers.

Cognition, in the meantime, asserts that it has constructed the primary AI software program engineer that may act autonomously to interact with customers by way of Slack and GitHub. After a March funding spherical, the startup’s valuation rose to $4 billion, crossing the $1 billion threshold and making it a unicorn.

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