The market for AI‑generated code has become a battleground, and OpenAI clearly wants a commanding position. Its newest target, according to multiple reports, is Windsurf—an AI coding platform said to be in late‑stage acquisition talks for roughly $3 billion.
The figure OpenAI is proposing immediately prompted many to ask: Why not simply pick up Cursor‑maker Anysphere, a company OpenAI already backs?
OpenAI’s startup fund first wrote checks to Anysphere during the coding assistant’s seed round in late 2023, and insiders say the two companies held buyout conversations in 2024 and again earlier this year.
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However, as Anysphere began exploring a fresh funding round that could peg its valuation near $10 billion, according to Bloomberg. Cursor is also the bigger revenue engine, with estimates hovering around $200 million in annualized recurring revenue, five times Windsurf’s reported $40 million ARR.
So why go for Windsurf? Two possible reasons are:
- Speed to Market: OpenAI’s own “Codex CLI” agent—introduced on Wednesday—can already write and refactor code, but usage is still nascent. Buying an established product gives OpenAI an installed base of paying developers today, not months from now.
- Portfolio Hedge: If Anysphere’s price tag climbs alongside its revenue, snapping up a smaller yet fast‑growing rival may be the more capital‑efficient way to secure market share—and prevent another major AI player from doing so first.
In short, OpenAI’s courtship of Windsurf indicates that the company won’t rely solely on organic growth to dominate code generation.
Whether it ultimately closes this $3 billion deal or circles back to Anysphere, the message is clear: owning a leading coding assistant is now viewed as critical infrastructure for the ChatGPT ecosystem.
