OpenAI Shifts Focus to WindSurf After Failed Anysphere Talks

OpenAI, the leading artificial intelligence company, was in discussions to acquire Anysphere, the developer of the Cursor AI coding assistant, before shifting its focus to WindSurf. According to sources, OpenAI approached Anysphere in 2024 and again in 2025, but the negotiations did not progress to a deal. This failure to secure Anysphere led OpenAI to explore other acquisition opportunities, ultimately setting its sights on WindSurf.

OpenAI is reportedly prepared to pay $3 billion for WindSurf, which would be its largest corporate acquisition to date. This move comes after the release of DeepSeek R1 in January 2025, which challenged long-held assumptions about the cost and scalability of artificial intelligence. DeepSeek was trained at a significantly lower cost than leading AI models, yet it delivered comparable performance. This development has raised questions about the billions of dollars spent by US AI giants and has rattled financial markets.

OpenAI's attempt to acquire an AI coding assistant company is part of its broader strategy to enhance its capabilities in the AI space. The company expects to triple its revenue in 2025 to approximately $12.7 billion by selling paid subscriptions for its leading AI models to individuals and businesses. OpenAI surpassed 1 million premium business subscribers in September 2024, but CEO Sam Altman has indicated that the company might not be profitable until 2029. Altman stated that OpenAI needs revenues of approximately $125 billion to turn a profit on its capital-intensive business.

Despite the high costs and centralization issues faced by large-scale corporate AI developers, OpenAI is optimistic about the future. In February 2025, Altman noted that AI development costs were dropping dramatically, with the cost to use a given level of AI falling about 10 times every 12 months. However, the company still faces competition from more nimble open-source counterparts. Dr. Ala Shaabana, co-founder of the OpenTensor Foundation, highlighted that the release of DeepSeek solidified open-source AI as a serious contender against centralized AI systems. Shaabana added that the lower cost of open-source systems proves that AI does not need billions of dollars to scale or achieve high-performance benchmarks.