sources
every source cited in the cognition history, with its date and type.
the catalog
every claim on this site carries source ids that resolve here. type marks the evidence role; dates keep the precision the source gave.
- 2026-04-12openai stops self-reporting (feb 2026)agentmarketcap.aiopenai stops self-reporting (feb 2026); verified→pro 80.9%→45.9%
- 2025claude code: preview 2025-02-24, ga 2025-05-22aicost.toolsclaude code: preview 2025-02-24, ga 2025-05-22
- 2024-04cherry-picking (road damage search) and hype-tactics analysisartificialintelligencemadesimple.comcherry-picking ("road damage" search) and hype-tactics analysis
- 2025-08-06reversal-from-messaging frameainews.comreversal-from-messaging frame
- 2025-03-14amodei cfr prediction (spoken 2025-03-10)business insideramodei cfr prediction (spoken 2025-03-10)
- 2025-01-08month-long eval: 3 successes/14 failures/3 inconclusive of 20answer.aimonth-long eval: 3 successes/14 failures/3 inconclusive of 20
- 2026-09leaderboard-convergence auditarxiv.orgleaderboard-convergence audit; scaffold swings to ~30 pts
- 2024-03-13bi launch coverage, job-loss framingbusiness insiderbi launch coverage, job-loss framing
- 2025-07wang recounts frantic weekendbusiness insiderwang recounts frantic weekend; options considered
- 2024-03ceo 2010 mathcounts clip viralitybusiness insiderceo's 2010 mathcounts clip virality
- 2026-05-27series d corroborationbloombergseries d corroboration
- 2025-07-11openai $3b deal collapsesbloombergopenai $3b deal collapses; google $2.4b talent+license
- 2026-08-17ramp data: cursor share 41%→26%business-news-today.comramp data: cursor share 41%→26%; anthropic ~half of category
- 2024-03-14launch explainerbusiness-standard.comlaunch explainer; embeds launch tweet
- 2023-01matt welsh: dinosaurs waiting for the meteorcacm.acm.orgmatt welsh: "dinosaurs waiting for the meteor"
- 2024-03early skepticismccn.comearly skepticism; reddit "scam" speculation noted
- 2025-09-08post-windsurf valuation framecnbcpost-windsurf valuation frame
- 2025-07-11argenti: hundreds… might go into the thousandscnbcargenti: "hundreds… might go into the thousands"; supervised deployment
- 2025-07-11exclusivity lapse detailcnbcexclusivity lapse detail; april $3b talks context
- 2026-06-04estimator methodology companion postcognition.comestimator methodology companion post
- 2026-06-02devin desktop (index listing)cognition.comdevin desktop (index listing)
- 2026-04-15devin integration into windsurf ships (index listing)cognition.comdevin integration into windsurf ships (index listing)
- 2026-02-24devin 2.2cognition.comdevin 2.2 (index listing)
- 2026-02-25government offering (index listing)cognition.comgovernment offering (index listing)
- 2026-06-04ai productivity guaranteecognition.comai productivity guarantee; credits up to $10m; engineer-hour estimator
- 2026-05-27$1b+ at $26bcognition.com$1b+ at $26b; $492m run-rate; customers; "89% of code committed by our engineers is committed by devin"; "independent agent lab"
- 2025-10-29frontier-size modelcognition.comfrontier-size model; 950 tok/s via cerebras; "stopped reporting swe-bench numbers in 2024"
- 2026-03-01swe-1.6 previewcognition.comswe-1.6 preview + research update (index listing)
- 2025-07-14definitive agreementcognition.comdefinitive agreement; $82m arr; 350+ enterprise customers; 100% participation/vesting
- 2024-04-25founded nov 2023 by wu, yan, haocoingape.comfounded nov 2023 by wu, yan, hao
- 2025-07-14microsoft ip-access tension detailcomputerworld.commicrosoft ip-access tension detail
- 2021-06-29your ai pair programmer — assistive-era framinggithub.blog"your ai pair programmer" — assistive-era framing
- 2024-126m-loc etl migrationdevin.ai6m-loc etl migration; 12x eng-hours; 20x cost; 1.5yr→~2mo (vendor-published)
- 2025-04-03devin 2.0cognition.comdevin 2.0: agent-native ide; $20 plan; search/wiki
- 2024-03reaction spectrum: cynicism/fear/disappointmentdev.toreaction spectrum: cynicism/fear/disappointment
- 2026-06-1699/100 entries self-reporteddigitalapplied.com99/100 entries self-reported; scaffold moves scores 10–20 pts
- 2026category taxonomyearlyterms.comcategory taxonomy; 2025-05-19 triple launch; codex 3m+ wau feb 2026
- 2025-08-08wu x-post acknowledgment quoteseconomic timeswu's x acknowledgment; mercor/anysphere comparisons
- 2025-07~$250m price / ~$100m cash → ~$150m ev arithmeticethanding.substack.com~$250m price / ~$100m cash → ~$150m ev arithmetic
- 2025-07anthropomorphic-branding critiquefast companyanthropomorphic-branding critique; perplexity-ceo praise quote
- 2024-03demo analysisfikisipi.comdemo analysis; "canceled by a significant portion of the developer community"
- 2026-06-16$60b all-stock anysphere dealforbes$60b all-stock anysphere deal; largest venture-backed acquisition
- 2024-03-31investor-frenzy framingfortuneinvestor-frenzy framing
- 2025-07-14hybrid workforcefortune"hybrid workforce"; salary contrast $115–180k
- 2025-01-24bungling the vast majority of tasksfuturism"bungling the vast majority of tasks"
- 2024-12-11ga coveragegadgets360.comga coverage; notes 8-month delay
- 2024-04verbatim iob company lied three-count quotegist.github.comverbatim iob "company lied" three-count quote
- 2025-05-20jules public betablog.googlejules public beta; async cloud-vm agent
- 2024-05debunk digestgun.iodebunk digest; client-communication gap argument
- 2024-12angellist 14k dashboards 5.2xheadsupai.ioangellist 14k dashboards 5.2x; nubank details
- 2024-04302 pts/43 commentshacker news302 pts/43 comments; mike_hearn's canonical summary
- 2024-03-12launch threadhacker newslaunch thread; denial/fear/economics debate
- 2025-08extreme performance cultureinc."extreme performance culture"; "live where we work"
- 2024-04internet of bugs frame-by-frame debunk of upwork demoyoutubeinternet of bugs frame-by-frame debunk of upwork demo
- 2024-03-12launch summary incl. swe-bench framing detailitdoeswhatnow.comlaunch summary incl. swe-bench framing detail
- 2025-02-04expectations gap coverageitpro.comexpectations gap coverage
- 2026-07wang: windsurf ceo jul25–jun26 → president, new enterprise at cognitionlinkedinwang: windsurf ceo jul'25–jun'26 → president, new enterprise at cognition
- 2026wang interview: reorgs every 2–3 monthsyoutubewang interview: reorgs every 2–3 months; "windsurf… maybe five or six people now"
- 2024-03dev reactionleaddev.comdev reaction; collison/atallah endorsements
- 2026-08closed aug 14marketbusinessnews.comclosed aug 14; ~$2.6b b2b annualized revenue; ~23x
- 2024-03-14human software engineers promptly spiraled in the repliesmorningbrew.com"human software engineers promptly spiraled in the replies"
- 2024-03-13consumer launch coveragendtv.comconsumer launch coverage
- 2024-04-18debunk digestnextbigfuture.comdebunk digest; wrong-prompt/self-made-errors analysis
- 2025-07-14bricklayers to architects quotethe new york times"bricklayers to architects" quote
- 2025-05-16codex cloud se agent, codex-1/o3-derivedopenaicodex cloud se agent, codex-1/o3-derived
- 2021-08-10codex model launch (copilots engine)openaicodex model launch (copilot's engine)
- 2024-03-13open-source replication created day after launchgithubopen-source replication created day after launch; now openhands; ~85k stars
- 2025-07-16devin not popular with developers, windsurf islinkedin"devin not popular with developers, windsurf is"; 3,000-respondent survey
- 2025-07acquihire-ethics critiquepercolator.substack.comacquihire-ethics critique
- 2025-09-08round corroborationpitchbookround corroboration
- 2025-04price-collapse-as-admission readplainai.aguidetocloud.comprice-collapse-as-admission read
- 2024-12-13$500/mo as b2b junior-engineer pricing readproductgeeks.com$500/mo as b2b junior-engineer pricing read
- 2024-04six-fold revaluation coveragequartzsix-fold revaluation coverage
- 2026-06-16option structure ($60b buy / $10b collab)quartzoption structure ($60b buy / $10b collab); $29.3b series d nov 2025
- 2025scorecard: ~50% merged-code share at anthropicblog.redwoodresearch.orgscorecard: ~50% merged-code share at anthropic
- 2025-01-23first ai software engineer is bad at its jobtheregister.com"'first ai software engineer' is bad at its job"
- 2024-04-17quotes cognitions technical-preview-opening tweetscitech.whatfinger.comquotes cognition's technical-preview-opening tweet
- 2025-04-03devins adoption stalled under competitionsiliconangle.com"devin's adoption stalled" under competition
- 2026-09-08us army/navy/nasa, servicenow, infosys, goldman userssilicon republicus army/navy/nasa, servicenow, infosys, goldman users; "humans as executives" direction
- 2025-0772-hour deal narrativesloppish.com72-hour deal narrative; $250m figure
- 2025-12contamination: 3x better on verified vs fresher sets → recall not skillarxiv.orgcontamination: 3x better on verified vs fresher sets → recall not skill
- 2023-10swe-bench benchmark (princeton et al.)arxiv.orgswe-bench benchmark (princeton et al.)
- 2024-10swe-bench+ audit: 32.67% solution leakagearxiv.orgswe-bench+ audit: 32.67% solution leakage; 31.08% weak tests
- 2024-08human-validated 500-issue subsetopenaihuman-validated 500-issue subset
- 2025-09-08arr $1m(sep24)→$73m(jun25)techcruncharr $1m(sep'24)→$73m(jun'25); net burn <$20m
- 2026-05-27$25b pre/$26b posttechcrunch$25b pre/$26b post; revenue $37m→$492m
- 2026-09-08run-rate $492m→~$900mtechcrunchrun-rate $492m→~$900m; the information $4–5b eoy-2026 projection; cursor ~$6b pace
- 2025-06-05kaplan: odd for us to be selling claude to openaitechcrunchkaplan: "odd for us to be selling claude to openai"
- 2025-06-03anthropic cuts claude 3.x first-party capacitytechcrunchanthropic cuts claude 3.x first-party capacity
- 2025-08-0530 laid off; ~200 buyoutstechcrunch30 laid off; ~200 buyouts; 9-month severance; 6-day/80-hr terms
- 2025-05-16codex launch coveragetechcrunchcodex launch coverage
- 2025-07-14250-person team left behindtechcrunch250-person team left behind; friday-call→monday-signing; $100m arr april peak
- 2025-04-03eye-watering $500→$20techcrunch"eye-watering" $500→$20; acu math
- 2025-05-15windsurf swe-1 family launchtechcrunchwindsurf swe-1 family launch
- 2025-07-17poaching-as-normtechbrew.compoaching-as-norm; inflection/character/adept/scale pattern
- 2024-03reports of my death are greatly exaggeratedtechopedia.com"reports of my death are greatly exaggerated"
- 2025-08wu memo verbatimtimesofindia.indiatimes.comwu memo verbatim; aug 10 deadline
- 2026-09-08~53x run-ratevalueaddvc.com~53x run-rate; "one sold, one raised independently"
- 2025-09-08acquisition paid off handsomelyventurebeatacquisition "paid off handsomely"; ~$250m estimate
- 2025-07-14friends with anthropic againventurebeat"friends with anthropic again"; wang's "we lost our founders"
- 2025-07same-day exploding offer anecdotethe vergesame-day exploding offer anecdote
- 2025-01-25can cost developers more time than it savesimprovingwetware.com"can cost developers more time than it saves"
- undatedparnas: automatic programming as euphemism for higher-level languagewikipediaparnas: automatic programming as "euphemism" for higher-level language
- 2024-12-11ga coveragewinbuzzer.comga coverage
- 2024-03-30wsj: $2b talksarchive.iswsj: $2b talks; "$350m weeks ago"; "doesn't generate any meaningful revenue"
- 2026-09-09marc andreessen posta16zmarc andreessen post; "13%→90%+ of production code"; "back him for the second time"
- 2025every's ai & i: agi-is-here argument, rl discussionapple podcastsevery's ai & i: agi-is-here argument, rl discussion
- 2024-04-30founders fund sole investor in $175m roundaibusiness.comfounders fund sole investor in $175m round
- 2018-02wus 8vc venture cup problem orchestraalgorithms-live.blogspot.comwu's 8vc venture cup problem "orchestra"; bio corroboration
- 2025-04-17$240m raisedaxios$240m raised; $1.25b post summer 2024
- 2026-02neal wu departs cognition founding team for thinking machinesbusiness insiderneal wu departs cognition founding team for thinking machines
- 2025-08i live for these momentsbusiness insider"i live for these moments"; wang all-hands applause anecdote
- 2025-09-08~$400m at $10.2bbloomberg~$400m at $10.2b; investor list
- 2025-03-17~$4b round led by 8vcbloomberg~$4b round led by 8vc
- 2024-03-12ashlee vance launch featurebloombergashlee vance launch feature; corp ~2 months old; 10-person staff; $21m; founder roles; yan harvard color
- 2025-04-16openai ~$3b talks beginbloombergopenai ~$3b talks begin
- 2025-07-14what remains of windsurf framingbloomberg"what remains of windsurf" framing
- 2025-08john collison interviewcheekypint.substack.comjohn collison interview; "i think we have agi"; windsurf weekend
- 2025-07-14deal framingcnbcdeal framing; openai ~$3b talks context
- 2026-09-1610 ioi gold medalscognition.com"10 ioi gold medals"; "21 of initial 35 had founded a company"; team employer list
- 2026-09-16full dated post index used for timeline itemscognition.comfull dated post index used for timeline items (ga, 2.x, swe-x, partnerships, offices, acquisitions)
- 2025-06-12walden yan essaycognition.comwalden yan essay; context-engineering principles
- 2024-12-10ga at $500/mo, no seat limits, slack/ide/apicognition.comga at $500/mo, no seat limits, slack/ide/api
- 2024-03-12scott wu launch postcognition.comscott wu launch post; swe-bench 13.86% claim; "tireless, skilled teammate"; early-access waitlist
- 2025-07-22mcp server connections for devincognition.commcp server connections for devin
- 2026-04-22walden yan follow-up revising 2025 thesiscognition.comwalden yan follow-up revising 2025 thesis
- 2025-09-08scott wu: >$400m at $10.2b postcognition.comscott wu: >$400m at $10.2b post; arr $1m→$73m; <$20m lifetime burn; customer names; new hires
- 2026-09-08do it all with devin: >$2b at $48b, a16z + accelcognition.com"do it all with devin": >$2b at $48b, a16z + accel
- 2024-03-15methodology: 25% subset (570/2294), unassisted, github eval harnesscognition.commethodology: 25% subset (570/2294), unassisted, github eval harness
- 2026long q&acolossus.comlong q&a; "born in 1996"; minecraft quote; ioi teammates→founders; $445m run rate claim
- 2026-09-16ioi 2013 (52nd), ioi 2014 gold (6th)cphof.orgioi 2013 (52nd), ioi 2014 gold (6th); mit icpc
- 2025verbatim: 9-person founding team, hyperscaler, tree searchdavidsenra.comverbatim: 9-person founding team, hyperscaler, tree search; notes: aug 2023 founding, scale ai stint claim
- 2024-12-10linkedin post relaying cognitions ga announcement verbatimlinkedinlinkedin post relaying cognition's ga announcement verbatim; "16x" claim; nubank/vesta/ramp; oss contributions
- 2024release notes confirming ga terms/datedocs.devin.airelease notes confirming ga terms/date
- 2026-05-27bloomberg syndication: run-rate $492m vs $37meconomic timesbloomberg syndication: run-rate $492m vs $37m; >90% internal code by devin (wu)
- 2025-07-11exclusivity lapsedfortuneexclusivity lapsed; codeium→windsurf rename; investor list
- 2026-09-16co-founder & president stylingevent.foundryco.com"co-founder & president" styling; stanford/treehacks/fei-fei lab
- 2019scott wu on lunchclub era + a16z $4m raiseshare.transistor.fmscott wu on lunchclub era + a16z $4m raise
- 2026-09-16speaker bio: early scale ai engineergne.mplify.netspeaker bio: early scale ai engineer; mit math; ioi gold
- 2025russell kaplan podcasthgcapital.comrussell kaplan podcast; "software abundance"; doubling every ~70 days
- 2025-07notes on yans context-engineering conversationlinkedinnotes on yan's context-engineering conversation
- 2026-09-16founder bioskomo.aifounder bios; "late 2022 pivot from crypto" claim; yan/anysphere
- 2026-09-16software engineer at cognition (current)linkedinsoftware engineer at cognition (current)
- 2026-09-16president since jan 2024linkedinpresident since jan 2024; ex-scale ai dir eng/ml; aug 2026 exec-hires post (grewal, art l., palmer)
- 2026-09-16ceo since nov 2023linkedinceo since nov 2023; lunchclub cto jun 2017–jun 2022; addepar 2014-15; headcount band 300-400
- 2026-09-16co-founderlinkedinco-founder; ex-scale ai; jane street intern
- 2024-04-25$175m at $2bmaginative.com$175m at $2b; wsj detail on rejected offers
- 2024-03-12$21m series amaginative.com$21m series a; collisons/elad gil/chris re; wu "deep algorithmic problem" quote
- 2026-09-16compiled leadership biosmungomash.comcompiled leadership bios; crypto-pivot claim; yan bio details (thiel, anysphere, deepreason)
- 2025-07-11nyt on the talent raidthe new york timesnyt on the talent raid; microsoft-ip concerns
- 2024-05-09early-access user write-upppaolo.substack.comearly-access user write-up; "silas" ran early access
- 2024-04gergely orosz on the debunk + cognitions walk-backnewsletter.pragmaticengineer.comgergely orosz on the debunk + cognition's walk-back
- 2026-09-08series e $2b at $48breutersseries e $2b at $48b; a16z/accel/ff/gc/avenir
- 2025-07-14jeff wang email quotereutersjeff wang email quote; windsurf $243m raised/$1.25b prior val
- 2025-07-11google $2.4b nonexclusive license + hiresreutersgoogle $2.4b nonexclusive license + hires; no equity
- 2026-07-08verbatim origin-story post (ti-83 basic, age 9)linkedinverbatim origin-story post (ti-83 basic, age 9)
- 2026-09-16scott wus personal site — diy hardware project archivescwu.ioscott wu's personal site — diy hardware project archive
- 2026-09-08~$900m run ratesiliconangle.com~$900m run rate; 30+ firm syndicate incl. nvidia, t. rowe
- 2026-09-09customers: us army/navy, nasa, servicenow, infosys, goldmansilicon republiccustomers: us army/navy, nasa, servicenow, infosys, goldman; $492m→~$900m
- 2026-07devin writes 95% of our codesourcery.vc"devin writes 95% of our code"; $492m arr; customer names; windsurf weekend negotiation
- undatedbio details: coded at 12, mathcounts 2011, lunchclub 2017stripebio details: coded at 12, mathcounts 2011, lunchclub 2017
- 2026-09-16employment list incl. meteor, d.e. shaw, dropbox, quorasuccess.aiemployment list incl. meteor, d.e. shaw, dropbox, quora (unverified)
- 2026-09-16kaplan bio: helia→scale acquisition, tesla autopilotsiliconvalleyinvestclub.comkaplan bio: helia→scale acquisition, tesla autopilot
- 2024-05microsoft build partnershiptechzine.eumicrosoft build partnership; devin on azure
- 2026-09-09claim: 2026 compute burn could hit ~$800mtechfundingnews.comclaim: 2026 compute burn could hit ~$800m
- 2024-03-13early testers (andrew kean gao)the-decoder.comearly testers (andrew kean gao); waitlist status
- 2025-03-19participant list: founders fund, khosla, elad gil, convictiontheaiinsider.techparticipant list: founders fund, khosla, elad gil, conviction
- 2025-08original reporting on layoffs/buyoutsthe informationoriginal reporting on layoffs/buyouts
- 2026-09-16founding advisor nov 2023theorg.comfounding advisor nov 2023; ramp/google brain/facebook history
- 2026-05-27>$2.5b total raised; ~53x revenue multiplethe next web>$2.5b total raised; ~53x revenue multiple observation
- 2025-07loi/waterfall detailtimesofindia.indiatimes.comloi/waterfall detail; microsoft ip friction
- 2025-07-11wang interim ceothe vergewang interim ceo; graham moreno president; deepmind agentic coding
- 2024-04-25relays the information: $175m at $2b, founders fund led both roundsvoicebot.airelays the information: $175m at $2b, founders fund led both rounds
- 2026-09-16founding aug/nov 2023 discrepancywikipediafounding aug/nov 2023 discrepancy; 10 ioi medals; neal wu/korotkevich/andrew he; 200 employees 2026
- 2026-09-16touristwikipedia"tourist"; 4009 rating 2024-08-30; tier named for him
- 2026-09-16bio: b.1997, baton rouge, harvard, lunchclub ctowikipediabio: b.1997, baton rouge, harvard, lunchclub cto 2017-22, ioi x3 (1st 2014), code jam 3rd, forbes 30u30
- 2025-08-05verbatim we dont believe in work-life balance… memowinbuzzer.comverbatim "we don't believe in work-life balance…" memo
- 2025-05-15pre-acquisition windsurf swe-1 launch (varun mohan quote)businesswire.compre-acquisition windsurf swe-1 launch (varun mohan quote)
- 2026-09-09wsj pro confirmationthe wall street journalwsj pro confirmation; altimeter, bain participation
- 2026-09-16fan bio; jan-2023 founding claim (outlier)yespress.iofan bio; jan-2023 founding claim (outlier); 60% ex-founders stat
- 2025~15-person eng team each using ~5 devinsyoutube~15-person eng team each using ~5 devins; ~25% of prs by devin; 8 pivots; name origin
- 2024-03original demo video narrated by walden yanyoutubeoriginal demo video narrated by walden yan
AI-drafted at Ben Guo's direct request and credited to Hraness; every claim links to its cataloged source.