In July 2025, Google paid a reported USD 2.4 billion to hire Windsurf's chief executive and core research leadership and take a non-exclusive licence to Windsurf's technology, while Cognition AI acquired the startup's intellectual property, product line, brand, operations, and engineering, product and go-to-market teams. The article argues that the correct question is not "Who acquired Windsurf?" but "which capability did each of them acquire?". In AI transactions, the capability a buyer pays for may depend on source code, training datasets, customer inputs, third-party models and APIs, and the individuals who understand these elements, as components can now be separated legally and commercially. Lawyers must contract for the continuing ability to develop, deploy and commercially exploit the capability. Regulators have recognized this: in March 2024, Microsoft hired the core team of Inflection AI and took a non-exclusive licence to its intellectual property without acquiring the company, and the UK Competition and Markets Authority concluded it had jurisdiction to review the arrangement as a relevant "merger situation".