Google Buys Windsurf, Meta Buys Voice AI Startup

Google agreed to pay about $2.4 billion for top talent and licensing rights from AI coding startup Windsurf. The deal moves CEO Varun Mohan, co-founder Douglas Chen, and a small team into Google’s DeepMind unit.

The arrangement does not give Google an ownership stake in Windsurf, according to the company’s statement. Windsurf had signed a $3 billion sale to OpenAI, but that pact unraveled after objections tied to Microsoft’s access to the startup’s technology.

This deal mirrors other recent talent-plus-licensing agreements by Microsoft, Amazon and Meta that sidestep formal acquisitions. Regulators are already probing similar transactions, signaling heightened antitrust attention on these AI hiring maneuvers.

Meta has acquired voice-technology startup PlayAI. The entire PlayAI team moves to Meta next week under newly hired voice AI leader Johan Schalkwyk.

Financial terms were not disclosed, and Meta declined to elaborate beyond confirming the deal. The memo says PlayAI’s tools for creating natural voices will feed projects spanning AI Characters, Meta AI, wearables, and audio content.

The purchase continues Meta’s year-long push to load up on AI talent as it builds out chips, data centers, and new models. It follows Zuckerberg’s recent overhaul that placed former Scale AI CEO Alexandr Wang in charge of the newly formed Meta Superintelligence Labs.

Google has activated a Gemini feature that transforms any photo into an eight-second video complete with AI-generated audio. The tool is available today on the web and rolls out to mobile this week for Gemini AI Ultra and Pro subscribers in select regions.

Powered by Google’s Veo 3 model, users upload an image and a text prompt for movement and sound, then receive a 720p, 16:9 MP4 with both visible and SynthID watermarks. A comparable capability already exists in Google’s Flow filmmaking app, which expands to 75 additional countries today.

Subscribers can now animate photos within Gemini instead of switching to Flow, removing an extra step noted in Google’s announcement. Because the capability is exclusive to the Ultra and Pro plans, advanced video generation stays positioned as a premium perk.

Harmonic AI secured a $100 million Series B to sharpen AI’s ability to handle complex math tasks. The financing prices the two–year-old startup at $875 million.

Kleiner Perkins led the round, joined by Sequoia Capital, Index Ventures and Paradigm. Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev co-founded the company and serves as executive chairman, while former Helm.ai leader Tudor Achim is CEO.

Harmonic is zeroing in on mathematical reasoning, a challenge that has repeatedly tripped up mainstream AI models. The near-unicorn valuation shows investors are willing to back niche technical breakthroughs with substantial capital.

AI-driven services are now automating core wedding tasks once handled by planners, from vendor outreach and budgeting to seating charts and speechwriting. Platforms such as Bridesmaid for Hire, Zola, Guestlist, and Nupt.ai deliver instant itineraries, cost analyses and chat-based support that couples access in seconds.

One bride generated a 200-item spreadsheet, vendor letters and a budget in about an hour with ChatGPT, work she estimated would have taken 250 hours. Bridesmaid for Hire reports 1,300 customers bought its $35 AI-written speeches versus 20 who chose the $375 human option, and says AI now powers 70 percent of its business.

Founders of Nupt.ai claim their platform cuts the average couple’s planning burden from 500 to 50 hours, letting many downgrade from full-service planners to day-of coordinators. Yet when a pre-wedding storm upended a venue, the article notes that only a human planner could salvage the event, underscoring AI’s limits in real-time crises.