Who is Varun Mohan? Windsurf faces backlash after leaving the startup for Indian-root CEO Google, derailing the $ 3B Openai deal. world News

Varun Mohan, an emerging stars in Silicon Valley and co-founder of AI Startup Windsurf, are in the fire after suddenly leaving to join. GoogleDeepmind, effectively dealing with $ 3 billion with Openai. The move made widespread criticism from investors, industry colleagues and public, with some branding Mohan with a “generational villain” to leave his team behind during an important transition. While Windsurf was later rescued by Anubhuti in a last-minute deal, the controversy has put a long shade on Mohan’s once-Saraha career. But who is a man at the center of this high-stake tech saga?

Varun Mohan: Windsurf co-founder with Indian roots

Varun Mohan was born and raised -in Sunvel, California, Indian immigrant parents. While the specific region in India remains unknown, his upbringing was defined by a mixture of Indian cultural values and American spirit of innovation. Academically encouraged to Excel, Mohan showed an initial qualification for Mathematics and Computer Science, regularly to win praise in national Olympiads and competitions.Mohan’s educational visit took him to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he chased a rare dual-degree program. He completed Master of Engineering in Bachelor of Science and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). He specialized in areas such as operating systems, machine learning, distributed computing and algorithms, laying groundwork for his future in AI Infrastructure and Developer Tools.During his time at MIT, Mohan created its technical foundation with an internship in Major Tech firms and research institutes, including Quora, LinkedIn, Samsung, Claudera and UC Santa Cruise. After graduation, he joined the Self-Driving Startup Nooro, where he quickly reached the lead software engineer. These experiences contacted him with hand for the real -world applications of complex AI system and machine learning.

Co-founder Windsurf: Construction of an AI-country IDE

In 2021, Mohan co-established codium, which was later rebuilt as Windsurf with MIT classmate Douglas Chen. The company initially focused on GPU virtue for deep education, but later published to create a cascade, an AI-Integrated Integrated Development Environment (IDE). The tool allowed developers to write, test and refore code with AI support, onboarding more than a million users within just four months. Windsurf raised $ 243 million in funding and became one of the fastest growing AI unicorn in the United States and reached a $ 1.25 billion evaluation.

Fallout from Google Move

In 2025, Openai was allegedly in advanced talks to acquire Windsurf for $ 3 billion. But as soon as the deal was completed, Mohan and Chen resigned Google with Windsurf technology in a $ 2.4 billion agreement. Mohan then joined Google deepmind, taking the team’s key members with him. Sudden departure left Windsurf in crisis and eventually inspired the weekend-long rescue operation by AI firm Anubhuti. The move expressed displeasure in the world of technology.

Backlash from investors and public

The decline was fast and public. Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla criticized Mohan for leaving his team, while CEO of Cognition Scott Wu called the exit a betrayal of the founding responsibility. On social media, users accused Mohan of prioritizing personal gains on the team’s loyalty. A post read in a post, “The founders are caching, while left behind the team, this is not just a bad form. It’s a long -term reputation damage.” Another user called him a “generational villain”.,Despite the backlash, Mohan’s contribution to the AI-managed developer tool is important. He is widely considered as a pioneer in the agent IDES, which are devices that integrate AI into the entire coding process, and an impressive person in AI development of Silicon Valley. Now in Google Deepmind, he continues to shape the future of AI-operated software development, although under the shadow of one of the most controversial exit of the year.