Speed and Greed Test Silicon Valley

The artificial intelligence dealmaking frenzy over the past few weeks is shifting Silicon Valley norms and creating wealth at a pace and scale we’ve never seen before. One theme is becoming clear: These AI deals are all about speed, and speed can make things messy. 

The latest example was Google co-founder Sergey Brin (suddenly relevant again), sitting in a Mountain View hotel meeting room last Thursday with more than 40 researchers, engineers and executives from AI coding startup Windsurf. He offered to double some of their compensation as part of a $2.3 billion deal with Google, which Natasha and our colleague Valida Pau documented. For employees in the room, it was clear Brin’s offer was final: Take it or leave it.