OpenAI’s major acquisition is stimulating the nerves of the entire AI coding tools market.

In mid-April this year, it was reported that OpenAI would acquire the AI programming platform Windsurf (formerly known as Codeium) for approximately $3 billion, which supports multi-model integration.

During the trading advancement period, Windsurf was dealt a blow by another AI giant, Anthropic: access to the Claude series models was restricted, and even on the day Claude 4 was released, Windsurf did not receive access qualifications.

On June 3, Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan publicly complained on X that Anthropic decided to cut off almost all Claude 3.x models, and they “only received less than five days’ notice.”

An AI coding company, before even receiving the acquisition funds, suddenly became the “sandwich cookie” in the game between major AI players, quickly moving toward factionalization.

Does Anthropic’s “supply cut” on Windsurf mean that AI Coding has become a battleground for AI giants? And as the hottest startup track, how should entrepreneurs in AI Coding choose their next steps?

01 Windsurf, from neutrality to alignment

Windsurf was originally not an AI programming company, but a GPU virtualization startup founded in 2021, which transformed into an “AI programming IDE” in 2022, leveraging large models to turn natural language prompts into code, understand large codebases, and focus on the experience of “freely switchable models.”

In other words, originally, the platform remains neutral, and users choose the models themselves, using whichever they prefer, whether they think Claude is strong, GPT is stable, or Gemini is new, or want to use Deepseek, Grok, etc., Windsurf supports them all.

Its core product is an IDE that supports natural language programming, which not only supports multiple models but also includes independently developed Cascade Agent, Supercomplete completion system, and real-time preview features. Upgrading from a VS Code plugin to an independent platform, Windsurf serves as a model for “AI-native coding.”

Windsurf’s AI Coding agent Cascade｜Image source: Windsurf

This “Vibe coding” model has attracted a large number of programmers and startups, even breaking into the enterprise user market. By early 2025, Windsurf reported that its annual recurring revenue (ARR) had surpassed $100 million, with daily active users reaching hundreds of thousands. Even though the data is inferior to the more popular Cursor and GitHub Copilot, Windsurf remains one of the top players in the AI programming field.

Originally, neutrality was neutrality, but when it was acquired by OpenAI, its “model selectable” label became awkward. In the eyes of some developers, this might mean that Windsurf has fallen from being a model neutral party to becoming the “exclusive gateway of GPT,” with its independence becoming an unknown.

Windsurf can actually choose from a variety of models including Claude | Image source: Windsurf

OpenAI has not made a clear statement about whether it will limit the selection of models, but its competitor Anthropic has already hinted at its response: completely cutting off the first-party access interface for the Claude 3.x series from Windsurf, and Claude 4 will no longer provide native support. If users still want to use Claude, they can only connect through their own API keys, which is cumbersome, more expensive, and less stable.

From the feedback of Windsurf users, some developers have expressed anger and frustration. Some developers have even switched tools, such as moving to Cursor, just to continue using Claude 4.

Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan publicly complained on X, “Due to the short notice from Anthropic, we may encounter some availability issues with the Claude 3.x model in the short term.” “We have clearly communicated to Anthropic that this is not what we want—we intended to pay them for full capacity. We are disappointed with this decision and the short notice.”

He also moved out other vendors, stating that in order to ensure sufficient short-term resource supply, he increased the capacity of other inference service providers, “Gemini 2.5 Pro (currently of very high quality on Windsurf, enjoying a new 0.75 times promotional price), GPT 4.1, and many more models have not been affected. We look forward to continuing cooperation with all model providers.”

Windsurf CEO complains about Anthropic cutting off the Claude model supply｜Image source: X

In an official statement released by the company, Windsurf specifically stated, “We are concerned that Anthropic’s actions will harm the interests of the entire industry, not just Windsurf’s interests.”

From being a beneficiary of large models to being forced to choose sides, Windsurf may not have anticipated that Anthropic’s “cut-off” action would come so quickly and directly.

02 AI Coding’s “Agent War”

Anthropic’s action to cut off the model supply to Windsurf is, of course, seen by many as targeting OpenAI.

Various players in the AI programming field, whether it’s Anysphere’s Cursor, Cognition’s Devin, or GitHub Copilot, can use Claude. This also shows that it’s not that Claude is unwilling to open up, but rather unwilling to open up to its “biggest rival.”

In response to the supply interruption event, Anthropic’s public relations stated that it will prioritize allocating resources to “sustainable” partners, and of course, will not directly mention OpenAI, but it is generally interpreted within the industry as a stance of allegiance. Anthropic may also not want the data of users using Claude on the Windsurf platform to be sent directly to OpenAI.

The founders of Anthropic, Dario Amodei and Daniela Amodei, publicly stated when they left OpenAI that they were dissatisfied with OpenAI’s development direction. The two had previously been responsible for OpenAI’s safety research work.

Moreover, Anthropic is backed by billions of dollars in investments from Google and Amazon; while OpenAI is deeply tied to Microsoft and controls GitHub Copilot. All parties are vying for developer entry by supporting tools and controlling models.

It is also worth mentioning that with the enhancement of large model programming capabilities, Vibe Coding is becoming increasingly popular. Recently, Anthropic not only wants to distribute its large models to various AI wrapper companies but is also increasingly looking to turn to “self-operated”.

Anthropic launches Claude Code | Image source: Anthropic

In the first half of this year, Anthropic has begun to shift the use cases of the Claude model to its own products—such as Claude Code, which was just released in February this year, and the proprietary tools highlighted at the “Code with Claude” conference held in May.

After all, Anthropic’s current flagship is still the programming capabilities of the Claude model, which is a competitive selling point against other large model manufacturers.

And Windsurf, which has now been acquired by OpenAI, has clearly taken a side, and naturally has become the first target to be “blacklisted.”

The “intimacy” between Windsurf and OpenAI became public in April this year. Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan participated in the live broadcast of the GPT-4.1 model release. When OpenAI launched a new programming product, he also praised it on social media, calling it “looks really cool” and said, “Those who turn a blind eye to this neither realize the power of exponential curves nor understand the tremendous advances this technology will achieve.”

Windsurf CEO (left) interacts with OpenAI products and teams | Image source: X

OpenAI has realized that the pure large model service model may not be sustainable on its own and is taking frequent actions at the application layer, with AI programming becoming one of the key focuses. This area is a “traffic entry point” where competition for model distribution is intense.

This year, its actions include integrating the AI programming agent “Codex” into ChatGPT Plus and open-sourcing the local programming agent “Codex CLI”. Acquiring Windsurf may enhance OpenAI’s developer tools capabilities, particularly by bringing Windsurf’s mature user base into the OpenAI ecosystem, while competing for territory to control and weaken competitors’ large model distribution channels.

However, regardless of what OpenAI plans to do with Windsurf, have they considered Anthropic’s reaction? If users shift to other tools due to the strong programming capabilities of Anthropic’s Claude model, Windsurf’s own interests will certainly be affected.

For the entire industry, if the model is tied to a platform, developers may worry whether this is a signal that the AI programming market is heading towards “platformization and closure.”

For example, one might think that future development tools will also be fragmented like smartphone operating systems—either iOS or Android; either GPT or Claude.

The cessation of support for Windsurf by Anthropic is by no means a coincidence in business decisions, but rather the first shot in the chassis battle among AI giants.

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