OpenAI in talks to buy coding assistant startup for more than $3 billion

• OpenAI already has done in-house app efforts like its image generator, but there are plenty of areas where it may be easier to buy.
• And that also could become true of other model makers like Anthropic, which would be derelict if it hasn't already placed a call to Anysphere (dba Cursor), the Windsurf rival that reportedly is raising new funding at a $10 billion valuation.
• Try to imagine if Microsoft had just remained an OS. Yeah, neither can OpenAI.

Behind the scenes: This isn't yet a done deal, and could be complicated by a leak first scooped by Bloomberg.

• Don't be surprised if the majority of that $3b+ is in OpenAI stock.
• Windsurf (fka Codeium) also had been rumored to be weighing new VC funding. To date it's raised $240 million, most recently last summer at a $1.25 billion post-money valuation from General Catalyst, Greenoaks, and Kleiner Perkins.

The intrigue: Anysphere raised seed funding in 2023 from OpenAI Startup Fund, which at the time was controlled by Sam Altman but which now is part of the larger company.

Zoom out: If this deal gets signed, it could pose some interesting questions to antitrust regulators.

• The FTC currently is battling Meta in court over a pair of acquisitions that it had signed off on during the Obama years, no longer viewing them as ancillary. Might it view OpenAI buying Windsurf as analogous?
• Or will it decide that this deal promotes competition by aiming straight at Microsoft Copilot? The answer there may depend on how the FTC views the relationship between OpenAI and Microsoft — which right now might be best described as frenemies.

OpenAI declined comment, via a spokesperson.