World's First AI Engineer Devin Propels Cognition to $10 Billion Valuation

In a resounding display of investor confidence in the future of autonomous AI, the artificial intelligence startup Cognition is reportedly in discussions to raise more than $300 million in a new funding round that would value the company at a staggering $10 billion.[1][2][3] This potential deal, which involves prominent venture capital firms Founders Fund and Khosla Ventures, would more than double Cognition's valuation from just a few months prior, signaling a massive bet on its flagship product, the AI software engineer known as Devin.[1][2] The talks, while reportedly not yet finalized, underscore the immense hype and capital flowing into the generative AI space, particularly for companies aiming to automate complex technical tasks.[1][3]

Founded in November 2023, Cognition has experienced a meteoric rise, emblematic of the current AI investment boom.[4][5] The company was established by Scott Wu, Steven Hao, and Walden Yan, a trio of decorated competitive programmers who hold a collective 10 gold medals from the prestigious International Olympiad in Informatics.[4][6] This deep technical expertise is a cornerstone of the company's identity and, according to CEO Scott Wu, provides a competitive edge in tackling the "deep algorithmic problem" of teaching an AI to be a programmer.[4] The company's valuation has soared at an unprecedented rate. An initial $21 million Series A funding round led by Founders Fund in early 2024 valued Cognition at $350 million.[4][6] This was followed by a $175 million round in April 2024, also led by Founders Fund, which pushed the valuation to $2 billion.[7][8] By March 2025, a round led by Joe Lonsdale's 8VC saw the company's valuation jump to $4 billion.[9][10][11] The current talks for a $10 billion valuation represent a dramatic acceleration, even within the fast-paced world of AI startups.

At the heart of this soaring valuation is Devin, which Cognition has billed as the world's first fully autonomous AI software engineer.[12][13] Unveiled in March 2024, Devin is designed to go far beyond existing AI coding assistants like GitHub Copilot.[13][14] Instead of merely completing lines of code, Devin can reportedly handle entire software development projects from a simple natural language prompt.[13][15] The company showcases Devin's ability to plan and execute complex engineering tasks that require thousands of decisions, learn from new information, and autonomously find and fix bugs in codebases.[16] It operates within a sandboxed environment equipped with its own shell, code editor, and browser, mimicking the toolkit of a human developer.[6][16] Demonstrations have shown Devin creating websites, debugging code, and even completing freelance jobs from platforms like Upwork.[16][14] This has attracted significant enterprise interest, with companies like Ramp, MongoDB, Nubank, and Goldman Sachs reportedly becoming customers.[1][17]

Despite the viral demos and soaring valuation, Cognition and Devin have faced scrutiny and skepticism.[1] Critics and some software engineers have raised concerns that the company may be overhyping Devin's current capabilities, noting that real-world software engineering is messy and complex.[1][18] While the AI agent is considered promising, some developers have reported inconsistencies, long execution times, and unreliable results in real-world testing, suggesting it still requires significant human oversight.[19][20] The company itself acknowledges that Devin is not perfect and makes mistakes.[7] The emergence of open-source alternatives like Devika, which aim to replicate Devin's capabilities, also presents a competitive challenge.[13][21] Nevertheless, the intense investor interest suggests a strong belief in the long-term potential of agentic AI to revolutionize software development. CEO Scott Wu envisions a future where developers transition to roles more akin to technical architects or product managers, directing AI agents like Devin to build and modify software.[22][23]

Cognition's aggressive growth strategy was further highlighted by its recent acquisition of the remains of rival AI coding startup Windsurf for an undisclosed sum.[1] The move came as a surprise, following a collapsed acquisition of Windsurf by OpenAI and the subsequent move of Windsurf's founders to Google in a deal reportedly valued at $2.4 billion.[1] The acquisition of Windsurf's remaining assets and team is intended to accelerate Cognition's development, with CEO Scott Wu stating, "The new Cognition will work faster than ever."[1] This strategic maneuver, coupled with the massive new funding it is seeking, positions Cognition as a formidable player in the burgeoning field of AI-driven software development. The outcome of this funding round will be a significant indicator of whether the industry believes the era of the autonomous AI engineer has truly arrived.