AI Coding Startup: Work Weekends or Take a Buyout
This week, The Information reported that after cutting 30 employees from the Windsurf team last week, Cognition is giving the remaining 200-person group a choice: Accept a buyout equivalent to nine months' salary, or stay on the team and work long hours, at least six days or 80 hours a week. According to an internal email viewed by the outlet, Windsurf employees have until August 10 to decide to stay or take the buyout.
Related: OpenAI Is Acquiring Former Apple Designer Jony Ive's Startup for $6.5 Billion
"We don't believe in work-life balance — building the future of software engineering is a mission we all care so deeply about that we couldn't possibly separate the two," Cognition CEO Scott Wu wrote in an email, viewed by the outlet.
Wu further backed up his stance in a post on X on Tuesday, which acknowledged that Cognition has "an extreme performance culture" and that the company is "upfront" about the atmosphere when hiring.
"We routinely are at the office through the weekend and do some of our best work late into the night," Wu wrote in the post. "Many of us literally live where we work... we understand it's not for everyone."
A typical buyout starts at four weeks of pay, plus an additional week for every year spent at the company, according to CNBC. Nine months is a higher buyout than usual.
People have asked about our culture and recent employee communications. Cognition has an extreme performance culture, and we're upfront about this in hiring so there are no surprises later. We routinely are at the office through the weekend and do some of our best work late into… — Scott Wu (@ScottWu46) August 5, 2025
Windsurf has faced a turbulent few months. The startup was initially in talks with OpenAI for a $3 billion acquisition, but the deal fell apart in early July.
Then, Google stepped in and agreed to pay $2.4 billion in exchange for nonexclusive licensing rights to Windsurf's technology and access to Windsurf talent to join Google's AI effort. Google hired CEO Varun Mohan, co-founder Douglas Chen, and a select group of researchers from Windsurf as a part of the deal. The rest of Windsurf was ultimately acquired by Cognition on July 14.
Related: Google Swoops in to Make a $2.4 Billion Deal With a Startup Previously Promised to OpenAI
Windsurf, which claims that its AI code editor is "the most powerful way to code with AI," has more than a million worldwide users.
Cognition, meanwhile, asserts that it has built the first AI software engineer that can act autonomously to engage with users through Slack and GitHub. After a March funding round, the startup's valuation rose to $4 billion, crossing the $1 billion threshold and making it a unicorn.
Join top CEOs, founders and operators at the Level Up conference to unlock strategies for scaling your business, boosting revenue and building sustainable success.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Glen Oaks Community College president joins national agriculture education board
Bryan Newton, president of Glen Oaks Community College, has been elected to the board of directors for the Community College Alliance for Agriculture Advancement, according to a community announcement. Newton will represent the Midwest region, which comprises 10 rural-serving colleges committed to agricultural excellence. Glen Oaks recently joined the alliance, a USDA-affiliated consortium of rural-serving colleges working together to improve sustainable farming practices and prepare students for evolving careers in agriculture and natural resources. 'I'm honored to represent the Midwest in this important national alliance,' Newton said in the announcement. 'C2A3's mission aligns perfectly with our goals at Glen Oaks — expanding opportunities for our students, empowering faculty and innovating in the field of agriculture through collaboration and applied learning.' As a board member, Newton will help guide the strategy and expansion of the alliance's national initiatives, including its $9 million USDA Cooperative Agreement designed to enhance conservation practices and boost student engagement with USDA career pathways. Through Newton's appointment, Glen Oaks strengthens its leadership in agricultural education — not only as the only community college in Michigan with a campus farm and agricultural equipment technology degree — but now also as a driving force in shaping agriculture's future on the national stage. This story was created by Janis Reeser, jreeser@ with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at We want your news: How to submit community announcements This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Bryan Newton elected to agriculture advancement alliance Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The Average Social Security Retired-Worker Check Is on Track to Plunge $553 Per Month by 2033.
Key Points Between 80% and 90% of retirees consistently lean on their Social Security income, in some capacity, to make ends meet. The latest Social Security Board of Trustees Report calls for the depletion of the OASI's asset reserves in just eight years. A laundry list of demographic changes is the primary culprit behind a projected 23% reduction in retired-worker benefits come 2033. The $23,760 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook › For most retired workers, Social Security is more than just a monthly deposit into their checking or savings account. It represents a pillar that, in many instances, is necessary to support their financial well-being. In each of the last 24 years, national pollster Gallup has surveyed retirees to gauge how reliant they are on their Social Security income. In April, 86% of respondents pointed to their benefits as a "major" or "minor" income source. This is consistent with prior years, where 80% to 90% of retirees stated their reliance, in some capacity, on this leading social program. Ideally, maintaining the health of America's top retirement program should be the No. 1 priority of our elected officials. But based on the current trajectory of this vital program, retired-worker beneficiaries may be staring down a sizable reduction in their monthly payout come 2033. Retired-worker benefits may be slashed by up to 23% in eight years Every year since the very first retired-worker check was mailed out in January 1940, the Social Security Board of Trustees has released a report detailing the financial outlook for the program. In addition to outlining how Social Security generates income and where each dollar ends up, the real value in these annual reports is the long-term (75-year) forecast provided by the Trustees. They take into account changes in fiscal and monetary policy, along with a host of demographic shifts (e.g., birth and death rates, immigration rates, and so on), to determine how financially sound Social Security will be for the 75 years following the release of a report. Over the last four decades, the Trustees have warned of an imminent long-term funding deficit. In simple terms, projected income to be collected in the 75 years following a report is expected to be insufficient to cover outlays, which primary means benefits, but also includes the administrative expenses to operate Social Security. In the 2025 Trustees Report, this long-term unfunded obligation ballooned to $25.1 trillion, and it continues to climb. But believe it or not, this isn't the biggest concern. The Old-Age and Survivors Insurance trust fund (OASI), which is responsible for doling out monthly benefits to retired workers and survivors of deceased workers, is forecast to exhaust its asset reserves by 2033. The OASI's asset reserves represent the excess income built up since inception that hasn't been outlaid and is invested in interest-bearing, special-issue government bonds, as required by law. If the OASI's asset reserve outflow isn't addressed by Congress, it will run out in eight years. Although the Social Security program is in no danger whatsoever of going bankrupt or stopping payments, the existing payout schedule, inclusive of cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), is very much in trouble. Depleting the OASI's asset reserves is expected to slash monthly benefits for retired workers and survivors of deceased workers by 23%. Could you handle your Social Security check being reduced by $553/month? However, it's one thing to throw around percentages and an entirely different beast when digging into what those percentages might mean on a dollar basis. In May, the average monthly Social Security retired-worker benefit made history by crossing above $2,000 for the first time in the program's nearly 90-year history. As of June 2025, the 53 million retired workers receiving a monthly payout took home an average of $2,005.05, or a little over $24,000 on an annual run-rate basis. But Social Security benefits aren't static. Most years feature a COLA passed along by the Social Security Administration to fight back against a loss of buying power. In other words, if the collective cost for a huge basket of goods and services regularly purchased by retirees climbs by 3% from one year to the next, benefits would also need to rise by 3% to ensure they can still buy the same amount of goods and services. Social Security's cost-of-living adjustment provides a near-annual bump in benefits to help counter inflation. Over the last 16 years, the average Social Security COLA has clocked in at precisely 2.3%. If we extrapolate the average retired-worker payout in June 2025 to the same period in 2033, with the assumption that COLAs will average 2.3% annually, the typical monthly check will increase to about $2,405. Yet if the Trustees' projections are correct, the OASI will completely exhaust its asset reserves eight years from now. Should this happen, the average estimated retired-worker check of $2,405 would decline by 23%, or $553 per month, to approximately $1,852. Considering how many aging workers rely on Social Security as a foundational income source, an average monthly payout cut of $553 would be devastating. The no-nonsense reasons Social Security is struggling You're probably wondering how America's top retirement program got to the point where sizable benefit cuts are on the table in less than a decade. Rest assured, it has absolutely nothing to do with common internet-driven myths of lawmakers raiding Social Security's trust funds or undocumented workers receiving traditional benefits. Rather, Social Security's worsening financial outlook boils down to an assortment of ongoing demographic changes. Some of these changes are quite visible and well known to the American public. For example, baby boomers have been retiring and leaving the labor force in greater numbers for some time. There simply aren't enough new workers entering the labor force to keep the worker-to-beneficiary ratio from declining. However, other demographic shifts have somewhat flown under the radar but are having a huge impact on Social Security. In no particular order: The U.S. fertility rate has hit an all-time low, which threatens to further pressure the worker-to-beneficiary ratio in the years to come. Legal net migration into the U.S. has meaningfully declined since the late 1990s. Since most migrants entering the U.S. are young and will spend decades in the labor force contributing to Social Security via the 12.4% payroll tax on earned income, a decline in net migration rates is a problem. Rising income inequality has allowed more wages and salary to "escape" the payroll tax. In 2025, all earned income from $0.01 to $176,100 is subject to the payroll tax, with everything above the taxable earnings cap (the $176,100 figure) exempted. Over the last four decades, income for high earners has accelerated faster than the increase in the taxable earnings cap, thereby allowing more earnings to be exempted over time. Lastly, lawmakers do deserve some blame. The longer Congress kicks the can down the road regarding the OASI's imminent asset reserve depletion, the costlier it's going to be to eventually "fix" Social Security. Although tackling the program's issues can cost lawmakers votes in upcoming elections, tough decisions are going to need to be made sooner, rather than later. The $23,760 Social Security bonus most retirees completely overlook If you're like most Americans, you're a few years (or more) behind on your retirement savings. But a handful of little-known could help ensure a boost in your retirement income. One easy trick could pay you as much as $23,760 more... each year! Once you learn how to maximize your Social Security benefits, we think you could retire confidently with the peace of mind we're all after. Join Stock Advisor to learn more about these Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. The Average Social Security Retired-Worker Check Is on Track to Plunge $553 Per Month by 2033. was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
8 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Forget the "Magnificent Seven." It's Time to Start Talking About the "Ten Titans."
Key Points The "Magnificent Seven" is catchy, but it's missing key companies. Broadcom and Oracle are proven tech winners with new opportunities. After a few stumbles, Netflix has blossomed into the company many hoped it would one day become. 10 stocks we like better than Oracle › Investors love categorizing companies. There are official distinctions, like S&P 500 components versus those in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, but there are also more nuanced groupings, like growth stocks, value stocks, dividend stocks, etc. Sometimes, investors will get a little whimsical and come up with catchy names to describe red-hot, winning stocks. The "Nifty Fifty" was a popular term for large-cap stocks in the 1960s and 1970s. Jim Cramer used "FANG" to describe Facebook (now Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META)), Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), and Google (now Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG)(NASDAQ: GOOGL)). It eventually expanded to "FAANG" to include Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL). The "Magnificent Seven" was coined by Bank of America analyst Michael Hartnett to describe the largest seven technology-focused companies: Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA). But the Magnificent Seven has its problems, which is why I'm introducing the "Ten Titans" -- the Magnificent Seven plus Broadcom (NASDAQ: AVGO), Oracle (NYSE: ORCL), and Netflix. Here's why the Ten Titans is a better representation of top growth stocks than the Magnificent Seven. The Broadcom blunder The biggest flaw of the Magnificent Seven is that it doesn't include Broadcom. It's up about 450% in the last three years, which has pole-vaulted its market cap well over $1 trillion. Based on market cap, it deserves to be included in the Magnificent Seven over Tesla. However, some folks may prefer the diversification that Tesla brings to the table with electric vehicles, renewable energy, robotics, and artificial intelligence (AI). And some may argue that it's redundant to include both Nvidia and Broadcom since they're both chip giants, but Broadcom has a much different business than Nvidia. Nvidia generates the vast majority of its profits by selling graphics processing units and associated hardware and software to data centers. Like Nvidia, Broadcom makes AI chips, and AI is its fastest-growing segment, making up around 30% of total revenue in its latest quarter. But the bulk of Broadcom's business is not directly tied to AI. End markets include networking, cybersecurity, storage, broadband, wireless, infrastructure software, and more. In fact, Broadcom was considered a dividend-paying value stock before its recent boom -- similar to another high-yield semiconductor stalwart, Texas Instruments. Another "value" stock turned growth stock Not long ago, Oracle was seen more as a mature tech stock with an entrenched legacy business and limited upside potential. Investors were more excited about hotter software stocks like Salesforce, Intuit, ServiceNow, and Palo Alto Networks. However, Oracle has completely transformed its business, integrating cloud infrastructure as a complement to its foothold in database software and enterprise applications. Oracle has carved out a growing role in the cloud that is uniquely different from Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. Oracle's hybrid and multicloud strategy integrates with the major cloud players, which allows customers to use Oracle's database advantages even if they're with another cloud provider. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) offers some advantages over AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, including lower prices in some cases, more AI tools, and vertical integration with the company's other database services. Some drawbacks of OCI are that it has a smaller ecosystem with fewer preset tools for developers. However, Oracle is growing faster than the major players with a 27% year-over-year cloud revenue increase in its most recent quarter, including a 52% rise in cloud infrastructure revenue. Like Broadcom, Oracle is a great addition to the Ten Titans because it's a highly diversified company that's playing a growing role in AI. FAANG's anchor is a worthy addition to the Ten Titans Netflix was an integral part of FANG and FAANG, but it fell out of favor for a while as it underperformed the broad market. The streaming company is now worth around half a trillion dollars, which has catapulted it to the top 20 S&P 500 companies by market cap. Netflix has pulled back from its recent highs, but the stock has still crushed the S&P 500 year to date. A big reason for its rebound in recent years is its improved cost management and more purposeful spending. A major problem with the business in the past was the boom-and-bust nature of its earnings. The company would steadily grow subscribers, but it would overspend on content and have dry spells without major success. As you can see in the following chart, Netflix spent most of the 2010s being inconsistently profitable. But over the last five years, profits have skyrocketed and its operating margin continues to climb in lockstep with revenue. The company has revolutionized entertainment and remains the gold standard in streaming, despite tons of new competition. A lot of that success comes down to its ability to balance the quantity and quality of content it produces. It's time to add some all-stars to the team Expanding the Magnificent Seven to the Ten Titans corrects for the blatant error of Broadcom's omission and includes massively important growth stocks in Oracle and Netflix. Over the next three to five years, it wouldn't be surprising if all of the Titans were worth over $1 trillion due to their industry leadership and runways for growth. With a combined weighting of 37.7% of the S&P 500, the Ten Titans offer investors a useful way to track the top growth stocks that can really move the major indexes and keep tabs on prevailing themes that are driving the market. Should you buy stock in Oracle right now? Before you buy stock in Oracle, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Oracle wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $636,563!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,108,033!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,047% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 181% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 4, 2025 Bank of America is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Daniel Foelber has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Intuit, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Netflix, Nvidia, Oracle, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Tesla, and Texas Instruments. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom and Palo Alto Networks and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Forget the "Magnificent Seven." It's Time to Start Talking About the "Ten Titans." was originally published by The Motley Fool Sign in to access your portfolio
