Anysphere, the company behind the popular AI coding assistant Cursor, is experiencing rapid growth and is currently uninterested in acquisition offers, including one from OpenAI, as reported by sources familiar with the situation. Cursor has emerged as a highly sought-after tool within the developer community, with its revenue reportedly doubling roughly every two months, leading to an estimated annual recurring revenue (ARR) of around AUD 300 million.
Previously, Anysphere declined initial discussions with OpenAI regarding a potential acquisition. They have also turned down other offers, highlighting their desire to remain independent. Instead, the company is in discussions to secure further funding, aiming for a valuation of AUD 10 billion. OpenAI, meanwhile, has not halted its pursuit of established coding tool startups and has reportedly engaged with over 20 companies since considering Anysphere.
The tech giant shifted its focus to Windsurf, another rapidly growing AI coding tool company, recently offering AUD 3 billion for it. Although Windsurf is smaller, its ARR has surged from AUD 40 million in February to an estimated AUD 100 million. The startup is gaining traction due to its coding products designed for integration with legacy enterprise systems.
OpenAI’s acquisition strategy appears to be motivated by the need to find new growth avenues, especially as rival firms like Google’s Gemini and China’s DeepSeek apply pricing pressure on foundational models. Additionally, competitors such as Anthropic and Google have introduced AI coding models that surpass OpenAI’s offerings on critical benchmarks, increasing their attractiveness among developers.
While OpenAI could potentially develop its own coding assistant, acquiring an established, widely-accepted product like Cursor or Windsurf would allow it to bypass the challenges of building a new service from the ground up.
Venture capitalists are closely monitoring OpenAI’s moves, with industry observers speculating that the company is likely to intensify its acquisition efforts at the application level. As Chris Farmer, a partner and CEO at SignalFire, remarked, the necessity for OpenAI to expand and innovate is becoming increasingly critical.
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