Varun Mohan, a rising star in Silicon Valley and co-founder of AI startup Windsurf, is under fire after abruptly quitting to join Google’s DeepMind, effectively tanking a $3 billion acquisition deal with OpenAI. The move triggered widespread criticism from investors, industry peers, and the public, with some branding Mohan a “generational villain” for leaving his team behind during a crucial transition. While Windsurf was later rescued in a last-minute deal by Cognition, the controversy has cast a long shadow over Mohan’s once-admired career. But who is the man at the center of this high-stakes tech saga?
Varun Mohan: Windsurf Co-founder with Indian roots
Varun Mohan was born and raised in Sunnyvale, California, to Indian immigrant parents. While the specific region in India remains undisclosed, his upbringing was defined by a blend of Indian cultural values and the American spirit of innovation. Encouraged to excel academically, Mohan showed an early aptitude for mathematics and computer science, regularly winning accolades in national Olympiads and competitions.Mohan’s academic journey led him to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he pursued a rare dual-degree program. He completed a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). He specialized in areas like operating systems, machine learning, distributed computing, and algorithms, laying the groundwork for his future in AI infrastructure and developer tools.During his time at MIT, Mohan built his technical foundation with internships at major tech firms and research institutions, including Quora, LinkedIn, Samsung, Cloudera, and UC Santa Cruz. After graduating, he joined the self-driving startup Nuro, where he quickly rose to the role of Lead Software Engineer. These experiences gave him hands-on exposure to complex AI systems and real-world applications of machine learning.
Co-founding Windsurf: Building an AI-native IDE
In 2021, Mohan co-founded Codeium, which was later rebranded as Windsurf, along with MIT classmate Douglas Chen. The company initially focused on GPU virtualization for deep learning but later pivoted to create Cascade, an AI-powered integrated development environment (IDE). The tool allowed developers to write, test, and refactor code with AI support, onboarding over a million users within just four months. Windsurf raised $243 million in funding and reached a $1.25 billion valuation, becoming one of the fastest-growing AI unicorns in the United States.
Fallout from the Google move
In 2025, OpenAI was reportedly in advanced talks to acquire Windsurf for $3 billion. But just as the deal neared completion, Mohan and Chen resigned and licensed Windsurf’s technology to Google in a $2.4 billion agreement. Mohan then joined Google DeepMind, taking key team members with him. The sudden departure left Windsurf in crisis and eventually prompted a weekend-long rescue operation by AI firm Cognition. The move sparked outrage across the tech world.
Backlash from investors and the public
The fallout was swift and public. Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla criticized Mohan for abandoning his team, while Cognition CEO Scott Wu called the exit a betrayal of founder responsibility. On social media, users accused Mohan of prioritizing personal gain over team loyalty. One post read, “Founders cashing out while the team’s left behind isn’t just bad form. It’s long-term reputation damage.” Another user bluntly called him a “generational villain.”Despite the backlash, Mohan’s contributions to AI-powered developer tools remain significant. He is widely regarded as a pioneer in agentic IDEs, which are tools that integrate AI into the entire coding process, and an influential figure in Silicon Valley’s AI evolution. Now at Google DeepMind, he continues to shape the future of AI-driven software development, although under the shadow of one of the year’s most controversial exits.
