I mention distribution in the post, and reasons to be skeptical of that as the primary driver (though I agree that may be the case)
Re talent, I'm not sure how big windsurf is, but aren't these teams generally quite small? $3b for a small team still seems quite high, especially since (afaik) their core area of expertise is more in UX and product than in ml research. That's not to say that UX and product aren't worth acquiring, just that the price tag is surprising if that's the primary justification.
Given Sam recently said he thinks consumer is going to be the valuable path, perhaps it is not too much to pay for a great ux/product team
"Ben Thompson: What’s going to be more valuable in five years? A 1-billion daily active user destination site that doesn’t have to do customer acquisition, or the state-of-the-art model?
Re talent, I'm not sure how big windsurf is, but aren't these teams generally quite small? $3b for a small team still seems quite high, especially since (afaik) their core area of expertise is more in UX and product than in ml research. That's not to say that UX and product aren't worth acquiring, just that the price tag is surprising if that's the primary justification.