Google's Reverse Acquihire of Windsurf and the Future of AI Developer Tools (opens in new tab)

(qodo.ai)

14 pointstimbilt8mo ago5 comments

5 comments

I was expecting the article to define "reverse acquihire"

>The "reverse acquihire." This term refers to a strategic move where instead of acquiring a company outright, big tech giants hire most of the startup’s key employees and license their technology. This strategy allows companies to bypass strict antitrust regulations while still gaining access to valuable intellectual property and expertise.

mgnn8mo ago

Who came up with this term? There's no reverse in that definition. I'd expect a reverse acquihire to be something like windsurf getting Google people and absorbing google. Maybe something like Boeing and McDonnell Douglas.

It's actually just doing the hire but omitting the acqui. Maybe truncated acquihire if they had to have acquihire in the term.

weikju8mo ago

I’d think a reverse acquihire would be Apple buying Next where Next mostly takes over Apple (Jobs coming back, OpenSTEP becoming the base of macOS)

tom_m8mo ago

We are in a bubble.

Not saying AI isn't useful or won't be around in the future. No different than the dot com bubble. Internet and SaaS still here. Just saying these things are red flags.

tomrod8mo ago

1999 all over again, with added pressure of bad fiscal policy and masochistic trade policy.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse