AI coding startup Cognition acquired fellow AI startup Windsurf's intellectual property, product, and staff last month in a deal with an undisclosed price.

This week, The Information reported that after cutting 30 employees from the Windsurf team last week, Cognition is giving the remaining 200-person group a choice: Accept a buyout equivalent to nine months' salary, or stay on the team and work long hours, at least six days or 80 hours a week. According to an internal email viewed by the outlet, Windsurf employees have until August 10 to decide to stay or take the buyout.

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"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," Cognition CEO Scott Wu wrote in an email, viewed by the outlet.

Wu further backed up his stance in a

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