OpenAI's $3 billion deal to acquire the AI coding startup Windsurf fell apart — so Windsurf turned to OpenAI competitor Google instead. Bloomberg reported last week that after Windsurf's deal with OpenAI crumbled, Google stepped in and struck a deal with the AI coding startup to pay around $2.4 billion for talent and licensing rights. "We're excited to welcome some top AI coding talent from Windsurf's team to Google DeepMind to advance our work in agentic coding," Google said in a statement, per Reuters. Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty ImagesWindsurf's deal with Google arrives months after the AI coding startup was reported to be in talks with Google rival OpenAI for a $3 billion acquisition. Windsurf, previously known as Codeium, offers AI coding tools like Cascade, an AI agent that codes, corrects, and thinks multiple steps ahead.