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OpenAI’s Windsurf deal is off, and Windsurf’s CEO is going to Google

(www.theverge.com)
766 points rcchen | 8 comments | 11 Jul 25 21:35 UTC | HN request time: 1.572s | source | bottom
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Ancalagon ◴[11 Jul 25 21:46 UTC] No.44537076[source]▶
So Google, Meta, and Microsoft will just hollow out the best AI startups of their talent instead of buying them - out of fear of monopoly lawsuits I'm assuming?

Nice plan I guess. Kind of obvious to spot though.

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1. bix6 ◴[11 Jul 25 22:03 UTC] No.44537214[source]▶
Can shareholders sue? I presume the only avenue is IP since that belongs to the company? Or the non-exclusive license somehow negates that? Brutal.
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2. Ancalagon ◴[11 Jul 25 22:07 UTC] No.44537243[source]▶
I actually don't know if there's much that can be done unless there's some non-competes in those employees' contracts which are usually not very enforceable outside of finance iirc.
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3. bix6 ◴[11 Jul 25 22:18 UTC] No.44537335[source]▶
Non competes aren’t enforceable in California but the company owns the IP so I’m curious about this license loophole they are using.
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4. nrmitchi ◴[12 Jul 25 03:18 UTC] No.44539006{3}[source]▶
Non competes can definitely be enforceable in California for executives and those with fiduciary responsibilities to a company.

They’re just not enforceable against “rank and file” employees.

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5. bix6 ◴[12 Jul 25 03:48 UTC] No.44539128{4}[source]▶
The only situation I know of is during a sale of business if the seller agrees. Which is clearly not the case here.
6. riwsky ◴[12 Jul 25 05:33 UTC] No.44539578[source]▶
“We underpaid you relative to what price you were able to command on the market, and you left, how DARE you!”
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7. rafaelmn ◴[12 Jul 25 09:49 UTC] No.44540729{3}[source]▶
Is there any IP that's actually valuable without the team ? I sincerely doubt it.
8. bix6 ◴[12 Jul 25 10:29 UTC] No.44540953[source]▶
“We spent our time and money helping you and now you leave taking everything with you and leaving us with nothing”

You think the only people in a company that matter are a few founders? It’s ok to screw over everyone else?