Google has hired a few team members from Windsurf, a rising AI infrastructure startup. The move is aimed at strengthening the tech behemoth's own AI code generation capabilities. At the centre of this development is Varun Mohan, the co-founder and CEO of Windsurf. Mr Mohan, along with co-founder Douglas Chen, joins Google following a high-stakes corporate tug-of-war that reportedly saw OpenAI in advanced talks to acquire Windsurf just last month.
Who is Varun Mohan, and what makes his background significant in the AI space?
Varun Mohan, who has Indian roots, was raised in Sunnyvale, California, by parents who migrated from India. He attended The Harker School in San Jose before moving on to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he earned both a Bachelor's and Master of Engineering degree in Computer Science.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Mr Mohan co-founded Windsurf in June 2021. Based in Mountain View, the startup is known for developing AI tools that streamline software development workflows. Under his leadership, Windsurf quickly rose to prominence as one of the most promising names in AI infrastructure.
Before founding Windsurf, he spent over three years at Nuro, the autonomous vehicle company. He joined in early 2018 as a software engineer. By August 2019, he was the tech lead for autonomy infrastructure and later became tech lead manager in 2020.
His resume also includes engineering internships at some of Silicon Valley's most recognised firms. In 2017, he interned at Databricks, focusing on machine learning systems. Earlier that year, he worked at Cloudian Inc., where he helped develop S3 storage infrastructure. In 2016, he was a software engineering intern at Quora, contributing to its data infrastructure.
How Varun Mohan ended up at Google
Windsurf reportedly caught the attention of OpenAI, which was in advanced talks to acquire the startup as recently as June 2025. But Google managed to pull off a strategic coup by hiring its core team, including Mr Mohan and Mr Chen, blocking OpenAI's bid.
According to Reuters, Google is paying $2.4 billion in licensing fees to access certain WindSurf technologies under non-exclusive terms, as confirmed by a person familiar with the deal. Google will not acquire any equity or controlling interest in the company. The former Windsurf team will now join Google DeepMind, where they'll focus on agentic coding initiatives, particularly within the Gemini project.
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