Vinod Khosla says Windsurf's founders abandoned their team: 'I definitely would not work with their founders next time'
Varun Mohan and Douglas Chen nearly struck a deal to sell the company to OpenAI for $3 billion before it suddenly fell through.
Then, the two decamped to Google DeepMind, leaving the rest of the company scrambling. Windsurf's remaining executives struck a deal with another AI startup, Cognition, the following weekend, which its new CEO, Jeff Wang, described as "crazy."
Now, legendary venture capitalist Vinod Khosla has weighed in on the drama, criticizing the founders' decision to leave. Khosla Ventures is an investor in Cognition.
"Windsurf and others are really bad examples of founders leaving their teams behind and not even sharing the proceeds with their team," Khosla said in an X post. "I definitely would not work with their founders next time."
Khosla's remarks were in response to a clip from "The Twenty Minute VC" podcast featuring Cognition founder Scott Wu, who said, "There's an unspoken covenant that as a founder, you go down with the ship."
"And I think that, for better or worse, it's changed a bit over the last year, and I think it's a bit disappointing to be honest," Wu said.
One X user suggested Khosla's response was hypocritical, prompting him to expand further on Sunday.
"Absolutely not hypocritical about it. I would not work with the WeWork founder either! Working without trust is a sure way to be unhappy," Khosla said on X.
"I honestly asked myself if I made $1b on this 'deal', would I accept it and be quiet or fight for the rest of the team? Or give part of my money to the rest of the team? Hard to say without being in the situation but I feel I'd definitely fight for those left behind," he added.
Khosla, Mohan, and Chen did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Wang, who previously served as head of business at Windsurf, recounted on X on Saturday his experience informing the Windsurf staff that not only had the OpenAI deal fallen through, but its two cofounders had left.
"The mood was very bleak," Wang wrote. "Some people were upset about financial outcomes or colleagues leaving, while others were worried about the future. A few were in tears."
Still, Wang praised Mohan and Chen. He said they were "great founders and this company meant a lot to them, and it should be acknowledged that this whole situation must have been difficult for them as well."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump is Shaping the Future of AI by Making ‘the Most Important Decisions Anyone in the World Has Gotten to Make,' Says Sam Altman
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, is recognized globally as a leading voice in artificial intelligence (AI) and a key architect of its rapid advancement. His recent comments on President Donald Trump's influence over AI policy reveal both a respect for the complexity of the decisions ahead and an appreciation for Trump's adaptability in the face of technological change. Altman stated in the Bloomberg interview, 'I think he will get to make some of the most important decisions anyone in the world has gotten to make related to AI. I am optimistic he will do the right thing there. He has an unenviable job. One thing that has really impressed me about President Trump, by the way, is his ability to just understand the whole industry and all the changes and quickly seem to have a very good intuition and make good decisions about it while things are changing so fast, he has really been quite impressive to me.' More News from Barchart Dear Palantir Stock Fans, Mark Your Calendars for August 4 The 3 Buffett-Backed Dividend Stocks That Beat the Market in 2025 Should You Buy the Post-Earnings Plunge in Intel Stock? Our exclusive Barchart Brief newsletter is your FREE midday guide to what's moving stocks, sectors, and investor sentiment - delivered right when you need the info most. Subscribe today! Altman's perspective is shaped by a career spent at the intersection of technology and policy. After dropping out of Stanford, he co-founded Loopt, a location-based social networking startup, and later became president of Y Combinator, where he helped launch and scale some of Silicon Valley's most successful companies. Since 2019, Altman has led OpenAI, overseeing the development of transformative technologies such as GPT-3, DALL-E, and ChatGPT, and securing major investments, including a multi-year partnership with Microsoft (MSFT). Under his leadership, OpenAI has become a central player in global conversations about the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence. Altman's comments on Trump reflect his understanding of the unprecedented challenges facing policymakers in the AI era. He acknowledges that decisions made at the highest levels of government will shape not only the future of technology, but also its impact on society, the economy, and global competitiveness. By crediting what he sees as Trump's intuition and adaptability, Altman points to qualities that are increasingly vital as AI evolves at a pace that often outstrips traditional regulatory frameworks. Despite Altman actually donating and campaigning for candidate Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential contest, Altman has significantly changed his tune in recent years. He called himself 'politically homeless' in a recent thread on X and continues to praise Trump in many of his interviews. In an interview with the New York Times, Altman said that Trump 'gets it' and it's now easier than ever to permit new AI and energy infrastructure. He went so far as to say he was even concerned 'that could have gone the other way,' likely referring to a potential second-term Biden presidency offering more red tape for AI innovators instead of less. His optimism about Trump's ability to 'do the right thing' is notable given the contentious debates surrounding AI governance. Altman has consistently advocated for responsible and transparent development of AI, emphasizing the need for collaboration between industry leaders and policymakers to ensure that the technology benefits all of humanity. His praise for Trump's grasp of the industry suggests a belief that effective leadership in this domain requires both technical understanding and the ability to make sound judgments amid uncertainty. Altman's remarks come at a time when governments worldwide are grappling with the implications of advanced AI, from economic disruption to ethical concerns and national security. His recognition of the 'unenviable job' facing leaders like Trump underscores the stakes involved and the need for informed, agile decision-making. As AI continues to reshape industries and societies, Altman's balanced assessment of Trump's role serves as a reminder that the future of technology will be determined not only by innovators, but also by those entrusted with guiding its development through policy and regulation. Altman's experience and influence lend weight to his observations, reinforcing the importance of thoughtful leadership in this transformative era. On the date of publication, Caleb Naysmith did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Sign in to access your portfolio
Associated Press
5 hours ago
- Associated Press
CORRECTING and REPLACING Zip Marks Fifth Anniversary with New Offices in San Francisco and New York
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 25, 2025-- Please replace the release dated July 24, 2025, with the following corrected version due to multiple revisions. The updated release reads: ZIP MARKS FIFTH ANNIVERSARY WITH NEW OFFICES IN SAN FRANCISCO AND NEW YORK Agentic Procurement Orchestration Leader Doubles Office Footprint Amid Explosive Growth, Surpasses Hundreds of Billions in Processed Requests Zip, the world's leading agentic procurement orchestration platform, today celebrated its fifth anniversary by unveiling expanded offices in San Francisco and New York to accommodate rapid workforce growth driven by unprecedented enterprise adoption. The company has grown from 250 to over 500 employees in the past year alone while securing Global 2000 customers across every major industry. Five years ago, Zip's founders chose to tackle procurement – hardly the most glamorous corner of technological innovation. While others chased trendy markets, Zip focused on the overlooked but critical process of how companies buy what they need. Few shared their vision. Then the world changed. Supply chain disruptions, inflation, and tariffs turned procurement from a back-office afterthought into a C-suite priority. What Zip had been quietly building suddenly became every CEO's top concern. That early vision, combined with five years of relentless innovation and AI leadership, explains why global giants from OpenAI to Discover are choosing Zip to transform their operations. 'Over the past five years, we've built something remarkable – a product so sticky that we've maintained 100% retention across our strategic enterprise customers,' said Rujul Zaparde, Co-founder and CEO of Zip. 'The fact that Fortune 500 companies across financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, defense, and retail are choosing a five-year-old company over established vendors speaks to how fundamentally we've reimagined procurement. We've processed over hundreds of billions in total purchasing request volume since our founding five years ago and we've barely scratched the surface of the global opportunity.' From Zero to $2.2 Billion: Five Years of Unprecedented Growth Zip's journey from startup to enterprise standard represents one of the fastest value creation stories in enterprise software history. In October 2024, the company secured $190 million in Series D funding at a $2.2 billion valuation, marking the largest investment in procurement technology in over two decades and validating Zip's position as the category leader. Since its founding in 2020, Zip has achieved milestones that typically take enterprise software companies decades: Doubling Down on Talent and Geographic Expansion To support its trajectory, Zip is hiring aggressively across all markets while significantly expanding its physical footprint: The company has grown from approximately 250 employees to over 500 in the past year, hiring 100+ people per quarter, with spending heavily weighted toward R&D. Five Years of Relentless Innovation Zip's trajectory from introducing intake to pioneering agentic procurement orchestration showcases the company's ability to anticipate and shape market needs: 'Five years ago, we introduced intake to the world. We scaled orchestration. Now, we're shaping the agentic future with 50+ AI agents that are redefining what procurement is capable of,' added Lu Cheng, Zip Co-founder and CTO. 'The most exciting part? We're just getting started.' This fall, Zip will host Zip Forward 2025 at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, where 750+ procurement and finance leaders will gather under the theme 'Agents of Change.' To request an invitation, please visit About Zip Zip is the world's leading agentic procurement orchestration platform, empowering businesses to accelerate the procurement process, mitigate risk, and drive growth by offering a single front door to unify the teams, tasks, and tools involved in working with suppliers. With Zip, businesses can maximize employee adoption of purchasing policies and increase spend visibility and control. As the leading solution for optimizing business spend, Zip's AI-powered platform is trusted by hundreds of leading enterprises worldwide, including AMD, Anthropic, Coinbase, Discover, Dollar Tree, Instacart, Invesco, Lyft, Northwestern Mutual, Prudential, Reddit, Sephora, and Snowflake to maximize the ROI of every dollar. To learn more, visit View source version on [email protected] KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA CALIFORNIA NEW YORK INDUSTRY KEYWORD: TECHNOLOGY ACCOUNTING PROFESSIONAL SERVICES BUSINESS SOFTWARE DATA ANALYTICS DATA MANAGEMENT SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT RETAIL ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE SOURCE: Zip Copyright Business Wire 2025. PUB: 07/25/2025 08:06 PM/DISC: 07/25/2025 08:06 PM
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
‘It's the most empathetic voice in my life': How AI is transforming the lives of neurodivergent people
By Hani Richter -For Cape Town-based filmmaker Kate D'hotman, connecting with movie audiences comes naturally. Far more daunting is speaking with others. 'I've never understood how people [decipher] social cues,' the 40-year-old director of horror films says. D'hotman has autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which can make relating to others exhausting and a challenge. However, since 2022, D'hotman has been a regular user of ChatGPT, the popular AI-powered chatbot from OpenAI, relying on it to overcome communication barriers at work and in her personal life. 'I know it's a machine,' she says. 'But sometimes, honestly, it's the most empathetic voice in my life.' Neurodivergent people — including those with autism, ADHD, dyslexia and other conditions — can experience the world differently from the neurotypical norm. Talking to a colleague, or even texting a friend, can entail misread signals, a misunderstood tone and unintended impressions. AI-powered chatbots have emerged as an unlikely ally, helping people navigate social encounters with real-time guidance. Although this new technology is not without risks — in particular some worry about over-reliance — many neurodivergent users now see it as a lifeline. How does it work in practice? For D'hotman, ChatGPT acts as an editor, translator and confidant. Before using the technology, she says communicating in neurotypical spaces was difficult. She recalls how she once sent her boss a bulleted list of ways to improve the company, at their request. But what she took to be a straightforward response was received as overly blunt, and even rude. Now, she regularly runs things by ChatGPT, asking the chatbot to consider the tone and context of her conversations. Sometimes she'll instruct it to take on the role of a psychologist or therapist, asking for help to navigate scenarios as sensitive as a misunderstanding with her best friend. She once uploaded months of messages between them, prompting the chatbot to help her see what she might have otherwise missed. Unlike humans, D'hotman says, the chatbot is positive and non-judgmental. That's a feeling other neurodivergent people can relate to. Sarah Rickwood, a senior project manager in the sales training industry, based in Kent, England, has ADHD and autism. Rickwood says she has ideas that run away with her and often loses people in conversations. 'I don't do myself justice,' she says, noting that ChatGPT has 'allowed me to do a lot more with my brain.' With its help, she can put together emails and business cases more clearly. The use of AI-powered tools is surging. A January study conducted by Google and the polling firm Ipsos found that AI usage globally has jumped 48%, with excitement about the technology's practical benefits now exceeding concerns over its potentially adverse effects. In February, OpenAI told Reuters that its weekly active users surpassed 400 million, of which at least 2 million are paying business users. But for neurodivergent users, these aren't just tools of convenience and some AI-powered chatbots are now being created with the neurodivergent community in mind. Michael Daniel, an engineer and entrepreneur based in Newcastle, Australia, told Reuters that it wasn't until his daughter was diagnosed with autism — and he received the same diagnosis himself — that he realised how much he had been masking his own neurodivergent traits. His desire to communicate more clearly with his neurotypical wife and loved ones inspired him to build Neurotranslator, an AI-powered personal assistant, which he credits with helping him fully understand and process interactions, as well as avoid misunderstandings. 'Wow … that's a unique shirt,' he recalls saying about his wife's outfit one day, without realising how his comment might be perceived. She asked him to run the comment through NeuroTranslator, which helped him recognise that, without a positive affirmation, remarks about a person's appearance could come across as criticism. 'The emotional baggage that comes along with those situations would just disappear within minutes,' he says of using the app. Since its launch in September, Daniel says NeuroTranslator has attracted more than 200 paid subscribers. An earlier web version of the app, called Autistic Translator, amassed 500 monthly paid subscribers. As transformative as this technology has become, some warn against becoming too dependent. The ability to get results on demand can be 'very seductive,' says Larissa Suzuki, a London-based computer scientist and visiting NASA researcher who is herself neurodivergent. Overreliance could be harmful if it inhibits neurodivergent users' ability to function without it, or if the technology itself becomes unreliable — as is already the case with many AI search-engine results, according to a recent study from the Columbia Journalism Review. 'If AI starts screwing up things and getting things wrong,' Suzuki says, 'people might give up on technology, and on themselves." Baring your soul to an AI chatbot does carry risk, agrees Gianluca Mauro, an AI adviser and co-author of Zero to AI. 'The objective [of AI models like ChatGPT] is to satisfy the user,' he says, raising questions about its willingness to offer critical advice. Unlike therapists, these tools aren't bound by ethical codes or professional guidelines. If AI has the potential to become addictive, Mauro adds, regulation should follow. A recent study by Carnegie Mellon and Microsoft (which is a key investor in OpenAI) suggests that long-term overdependence on generative AI tools can undermine users' critical-thinking skills and leave them ill-equipped to manage without it. 'While AI can improve efficiency,' the researchers wrote, 'it may also reduce critical engagement, particularly in routine or lower-stakes tasks in which users simply rely on AI.' While Dr. Melanie Katzman, a clinical psychologist and expert in human behaviour, recognises the benefits of AI for neurodivergent people, she does see downsides, such as giving patients an excuse not to engage with others. A therapist will push their patient to try different things outside of their comfort zone. "I think it's harder for your AI companion to push you," she says. But for users who have come to rely on this technology, such fears are academic. 'A lot of us just end up kind of retreating from society,' warns D'hotman, who says that she barely left the house in the year following her autism diagnosis, feeling overwhelmed. Were she to give up using ChatGPT, she fears she would return to that traumatic period of isolation. 'As somebody who's struggled with a disability my whole life,' she says, 'I need this.'
