Cognition, an AI coding startup in San Francisco, has recently announced radical workforce restructuring. This announcement is made just three weeks after they bought out their competitor company, Windsurf. The company sent home an additional 30 workers last week, saying it now has enough to make its workforce about 200 people. In a misguided effort to do even more with less, Cognition is now giving buyouts to the rest of their employees.
The buyout proposal comes with a package providing compensation of nine months’ salary. Employees have until August 10 to decide whether to accept the buyout offer. Cognition is undertaking a strategic reorganization to strengthen its team. This jibes pretty well with their stated long term business interest after the acquisition – to unify their recently acquired fleet.
Scott Wu, the CEO of Cognition, announced the buyout offer in an email that was obtained by The Information. In his letter to employees, Wu highlighted the company’s dedication to its mission, saying,
“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.” – Scott Wu, Cognition CEO.
Cognition is reorganizing in advance of this year’s TechCrunch Disrupt. We’re thrilled that this rewarding and uplifting event will be happening in San Francisco from October 27-29, 2025. The occasion provides a really excellent opportunity for Cognition to highlight our breakthroughs & innovations in the AI coding field. This is particularly exciting given its recent expansion through the Windsurf acquisition.
The article detailing these developments was published on August 5, 2025, at 11:02:07 AM PDT by Rebecca Bellan, a senior reporter at TechCrunch who covers Cognition. The news highlights both the challenges and transitions facing the company as it seeks to solidify its position in a competitive market.