It is unclear if current AI programming tools can sustain themselves with the current low subscription prices.

Windsurf
The planned acquisition of AI startup Windsurf by OpenAI for $3 billion did not happen. Instead, Windsurf entered into a licensing agreement with Google (this is not an acquisition of the company, but access to technologies), with key Windsurf employees moving to the Google DeepMind team.

One of the main reasons for the deal's collapse was disagreements related to the relationship between OpenAI and its largest investor, Microsoft. Windsurf expressed concerns about Microsoft's (owner of Github Copilot) access to its intellectual property under the existing agreement between Microsoft and OpenAI.

The move of key Windsurf employees to Google DeepMind is seen as a significant reinforcement for Google in the field of AI development, especially in light of their work on the Gemini line.

https://windsurf.com/blog/windsurfs-next-chapter
Cognition, known for creating Devin – the "world's first" autonomous software engineer agent, acquired Windsurf. The Windsurf team will join Cognition. Windsurf's unique intellectual property (IP) will be integrated into Cognition products.

The combined product will allow engineering teams to plan tasks in Windsurf with a deep understanding of the codebase from Devin, delegating parts of the work to Devin agents.

Cursor
https://cursor.com/blog/june-2025-pricing
Starting June 16, 2025, Anysphere (owner of Cursor) quietly changed the terms of the basic Pro plan ($20/month), adding usage-based billing. Many users quickly exceeded the limit (especially when using new Claude models) and faced unexpected additional charges as they didn't fully understand the new terms. This caused a wave of complaints on social media.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4aaynNs59Q

Anysphere explained the changes by stating that the new models have become significantly more expensive, especially when performing complex tasks that require a large number of tokens. The company plans to refund users who were charged unexpected amounts and promises to be more transparent in the future.

Replit
Users of another popular tool, Replit, have also faced increased costs for running large tasks.

#windsurf #cursor