OpenAI Acquisition Talks with Cursor Competitor Windsurf

OpenAI’s Quiet Moves in Developer Tools

In late 2024, OpenAI explored acquiring Anysphere, the startup behind the AI-powered coding assistant Cursor. The discussions didn't culminate in a deal, but they underscored OpenAI’s growing interest in AI-native tools used by software developers. Cursor has surged in popularity among engineers who prefer its sophisticated approach to editing codebases and resolving bugs across large projects.

Anysphere later went on to raise funding, reportedly hitting a $10 billion valuation—without selling to OpenAI.

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Now Enter Windsurf (Formerly Codeium)

OpenAI has since shifted focus to Windsurf, a direct Cursor competitor and another rising star in the AI coding space. Windsurf (rebranded from Codeium) is currently in acquisition talks with OpenAI for a $3 billion deal.

This acquisition, if completed, could grant OpenAI more than just advanced technology—it could provide access to an entirely new user base and rich streams of developer-generated code and workflows, which would further train and refine its core AI models.

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Why This Matters: Training Data & Market Share

Tools like Cursor and Windsurf are more than smart code editors—they are data pipelines for OpenAI. Every bug fix, every autocomplete, every multi-repo change teaches the AI how developers think, improving its coding capabilities beyond what passive usage in ChatGPT allows.

Already, millions of engineers use ChatGPT for basic scripting and automation, but tools like Windsurf offer a deeper integration into real-world software development.

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A Strategic Expansion in Developer Ecosystem

OpenAI has already invested in Cursor in 2023, and its CEO Sam Altman reportedly expressed acquisition interest early on. Now, by targeting Windsurf, OpenAI seems committed to becoming not just a backend model provider—but the central AI hub for coding across the tech industry.

These acquisition discussions highlight OpenAI’s broader strategy: capture the developer workflow, and with it, the insights to train more powerful, more domain-specific AI models.