Cognition eyes $40 billion valuation in funding talks

Cognition AI has initiated preliminary talks with investors regarding a potential capital raise that could value the rapidly growing artificial intelligence coding company at a minimum of $40 billion. This valuation would represent a more than 50% increase from the roughly $26 billion level when Cognition raised over $1 billion in May.

The investors involved in these discussions are at an early stage, and the size, valuation, and investor lineup may change before any transaction is finalized. The proposed $40 billion valuation underscores the swift pace at which funding is pouring into companies creating AI agents capable of managing complex programming tasks.

Cognition, founded by Scott Wu, Steven Hao, and Walden Yan, specializes in Devin, an autonomous software engineering agent that plans and executes coding projects with minimal human involvement. The company positions Devin as a system enabling engineers to oversee multiple AI agents while focusing on architecture, product decisions, and intricate problem-solving.

Cognition's expansion has been driven by enterprise adoption, with revenue running at $492 million and Devin usage expanding by approximately 50% month-over-month for six consecutive months when it disclosed its May financing. Notable customers of Cognition include Goldman Sachs, Mercedes-Benz, Santander, and NASA.

The recent $40 billion valuation signifies a significant milestone for Cognition, following its acquisition of Windsurf, an AI-powered integrated development environment. This acquisition, completed in July 2025, merged Windsurf's product, intellectual property, trademarks, brand, and a substantial portion of its workforce into Cognition's portfolio.

The combination of Windsurf's developer environment with Devin expanded Cognition's position in the software development chain, which spans interactive coding tools and autonomous agents executing more extensive assignments.

As software development emerges as a critical area for generative AI applications, competition in this sector has intensified. Major players such as Anthropic, OpenAI, Microsoft, and Lovable have all intensified their efforts to harness AI in software creation. Cognition aims to elevate Devin beyond the conventional coding-assistant role, enabling its agents to independently tackle sequences of tasks like navigating large codebases, resolving engineering tickets, and implementing features.

Cognition's CEO, Scott Wu, envisions a future where engineers primarily serve as architects, directing groups of agents to handle most of the execution, thereby transforming the role of human developers.