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OpenAI’s $3 Billion Deal to Buy Windsurf Falls Apart 😱
Godfather of AI: We’ve Already Lost Control of AI
Gina Acosta
July 13, 2025
Welcome to another edition of Horizon AI,
Talks between OpenAI and Windsurf over a $3 billion acquisition have suddenly ended after months of negotiation—now Google is quickly entering the mix.
Let’s jump right in!
Read Time: 4.5’ min
Here's what's new today in the Horizon AI
Chart of the week: Top Recipients of AI Chatbot Traffic
OpenAI's $3 billion deal with AI coding startup Windsurf falls apart
Free Resources
AI tools to check out
Video of the week
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Chart of the week
Top Recipients of AI Chatbot Traffic
A ranking of websites by how much traffic they get from ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other AI platforms, as opposed to search engines.
AI News
OPENAI
OpenAI's $3 billion deal with AI coding startup Windsurf falls apart
The much-anticipated acquisition of Windsurf by OpenAI has officially been called off. Instead, Windsurf’s CEO Varun Mohan, cofounder Douglas Chen, and several R&D employees are heading to Google DeepMind.
Details:
Mohan and the Windsurf employees will focus on agentic coding efforts at Google DeepMind and will primarily work on Gemini.
Google is paying around $2.4 billion for the deal, which will also grant it a non-exclusive license to some of Windsurf’s technology—but it won’t have ownership or control of the company.
Jeff Wang steps in as interim CEO, while Graham Moreno becomes the new president of the AI coding startup.
This unexpected turn marks a major win for Google DeepMind, boosting its AI coding capabilities with top talent. As for why the OpenAI deal collapsed, details remain limited, but reports suggest it fell through due to concerns over OpenAI’s close partnership with Microsoft, which includes extensive tech sharing and hosting agreements.
AI Findings/Resources
🤨 These personality types are most likely to cheat using AI
🔍 Researchers seek to influence peer review with hidden AI prompts
👀 The forgotten 80-year-old machine that shaped the internet – and could help us survive AI
AI Tools to check out
🐦 Fenixs: Easily create, edit, and produce with AI-enhanced tools tailored for filmmakers.
🐻 Runbear: Build AI agents that work like your team members in 10 minutes.
⚡ Vitara: Build full-stack apps using just a prompt.
🦾 Masonry: Collaborate with multiple AI agents to automate workflows, assign tasks, and boost business productivity with seamless AI-powered automation.
👀 11.ai: Build and customise your own AI voice assistant with unique names and voices.
Video of the week
Godfather of AI: We’ve Already Lost Control of AI
Geoffrey Hinton, often called the "Godfather of AI," discusses the potential dangers and future implications of AI, a field he championed for 50 years.
He talks about his concerns, primarily focusing on two types of risks: misuse by humans (such as cyberattacks, election manipulation, and the creation of dangerous viruses) and the existential threat of AI surpassing human intelligence.
Despite his warnings about potential negative impacts, such as mass job displacement, he also acknowledges the many benefits of AI across various sectors and believes there’s still a chance to change course, develop it safely, and avoid the worst outcomes.
Some timestamps (you can find more in the video description):
04:20 Warning About the Dangers of AI
07:06 Concerns We Should Have About AI
12:12 Cyber Attack Risk
16:12 Using AI to Create Viruses
17:26 AI and Corrupt Elections
24:31 Are Regulations Holding Us Back From Competing With China?
28:33 Can These AI Threats Combine?
30:15 Restricting AI From Taking Over
37:49 Are You Hopeful About the Future of AI?
39:51 The Threat of AI-Induced Joblessness
46:42 Difference Between Current AI and Superintelligence
54:29 How AI May Widen the Wealth Inequality Gap
1:00:49 Can AI Replicate Human Uniqueness?
1:24:10 Final Message on AI Safety
1:25:48 What’s the Biggest Threat to Human Happiness?
That’s a wrap!
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Gina 👩🏻💻