Google Acquires AI Coding Startup Mechanize in Talent Deal

Google has completed a talent acquisition of Mechanize, a San Francisco-based AI coding startup. Mechanize co-founder Tamay Besiroglu joined Google DeepMind in August, along with more than a dozen engineers.

Google reportedly discussed a deal worth $1.5 billion to acquire Mechanize's technology and talent. Mechanize previously raised $9.1 million at a $500 million valuation earlier this year. After losing its founding team, the company is expected to continue operating other business lines.

Such deals are known as acqui-hires, allowing tech giants to gain key talent and technology without facing antitrust review from the US FTC or UK CMA. Google took a similar approach with the Windsurf team.

The Mechanize employees joining Google will focus on mid-training to improve model capabilities in software engineering and coding tasks, competing with Anthropic and OpenAI.