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

(www.theverge.com)
766 points rcchen | 1 comments | 11 Jul 25 21:35 UTC | HN request time: 0.207s | source
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metadat ◴[11 Jul 25 21:58 UTC] No.44537176[source]▶
It's another Character.ai situation [0]. Unfortunate for any employees who aren't founders or researchers, as they don't get any payout or a nice new job from this exit structure. In fact they lose their whole time invested at the company.

What a harsh time to work for an AI startup as a rank and file employee! I wonder how the founders justify going along with it inside their mind.

[0] Character.ai CEO Noam Shazeer Returns to Google https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41141112 - 11 months ago (87 comments)

Edit: Thank you @jonny_eh for the clarification. I can't imagine it feels awesome being a leftover but at least you vested out. "Take the money and leave" is still a bit raw when the founders and researchers are now getting the initial payout + generous Google RSU's.

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1. Aurornis ◴[12 Jul 25 01:46 UTC] No.44538608[source]▶
> Unfortunate for any employees who aren't founders or researchers, as they don't get any payout or a nice new job from this exit structure. In fact they lose their whole time invested at the company.

Windsurf’s value didn’t go to $0 overnight. The company will continue and their equity is likely still worth a decent amount wherever the company ends up.

Obviously a disappointing outcome for the people who thought life changing money was right around the corner, but they didn’t lose everything.