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It’s not uncommon for large companies to acquire startups primarily for their talent rather than their product. Acquihires, as they are called, allow big companies to gain talented employees, while bypassing traditional methods of hiring. However, as the AI talent wars have heated up, major companies like Meta, Google, and Microsoft have been engaging in reverse-acquihires at AI startups. That is, they are swooping in to hire star talent and license technology, discarding the rest by the wayside. The tech giants gain talent while sidestepping the need for government approval and antitrust scrutiny that would happen if they bought the company outright. The remaining employees are left to flounder in the husk of their former company. By Bloombergs count there have been six since last March, and as the AI talent wars continue, were likely to see more. 6. Google DeepMind and Windsurf In July 2025, Googles DeepMind division hired Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan and cofounder Douglas Chen, along with other key members of their R&D team. The $2.4 billion deal also included Windsurf technology. Google did not take a stake or any controlling interest in the startup. The deal came after Windsurf was nearly sold to OpenAI in what was set to be a $3 billion deal. The Windsurf employees whom Google did not hire went from expecting to be part of OpenAI to being left behind at a company with no leaders. In a surprise twist Windsurf was quickly acquired by AI coding startup, Cognition. Still, the story doesnt have a happy ending. Shortly afterwards, Cognition laid off 30 members of Windsurfs team and offered buyouts to the remaining 200 TechCrunch reported. 5. Meta and Scale AI This June, Meta finalized a deal with data labeling company Scale AI. Meta acquired a group of its top engineers, including founder Alexandr Wang, and took a 49% stake in the company, for a $15 billion price tag. “As part of this, we will deepen the work we do together producing data for AI models and Alexandr Wang will join Meta to work on our superintelligence efforts,” a Meta spokesperson said. A month later, Scale laid off 14% of its workforce. Interim CEO Jason Droege said the company plans to focus on its government and enterprise businesses going forward. 4. Google and Character.AI In August 2024, Google also struck a deal with chatbot startup Character.AI, hiring its founders Noam Shazeer and Daniel De Freitas, as part of a $2.7 billion deal. “Were excited to announce that weve entered into an agreement with Google that will allow us to accelerate our progress,” Character.AI said in a statement at the time. The statement also explained that the startup would grant a nonexclusive license to the tech giant for its LLM technology. In the wake of the reverse-acquihire, Character.AI has shifted to a cheaper business model. Instead of training LLMs, it simply develops AI characters. Interim CEO Dominic Perella told Bloomberg: We were left much better positioned than some folks, pointing out that for a reverse-acquihire Character.AI is doing well. 3. Amazon and Covariant In August 2024, Amazon hired robotics company Covariants three founders (Peter Chen, Pieter Abbeel, and Rocky Duan) as well as about a quarter of the staff. They also received a nonexclusive license to Covariants robotic foundation models. According to a whistleblower, Amazon paid $380 million, which is much higher than $119.5 million, which is when deals need to be reported to the FTC. The Washington Post reported that according to the whistleblowers filing, Covariants current CEO, Ted Stinson, said if Amazon had bought the company outright, the deal would have been killed by antitrust authorities. According to the whistleblower, the deal restricts which licenses Covariant can sell without paying a fee to Amazon, hobbling its ability to grow. The whistleblowers filing said Covariant was only expected to last for a year after the deal went through. 2. Amazon and Adept Similarly, in June 2024, Amazon hired CEO David Luan and most of the AI startup Adept’s 100-person team in a deal that also included licensing the startup’s technology. At the time, Adept, which had raised $400 million, was developing AI agents to do software tasks, and the deal came before it had launched a product. Post-deal a blog post from Adept seemed to suggest that the company was now low in fund and needed to shift to a cheaper business model. Continuing with Adepts initial plan of building both useful general intelligence and an enterprise agent product wouldve required spending significant attention on fundraising… the post stated. Adept will now focus entirely on solutions that enable agentic AI, which will continue to be powered by a combination of our existing state-of-the-art in-house models, agentic data, web interaction software, and custom infrastructure. In December 2024, Amazon announced it was launching a new lab led by David Luan that would build AI agents that can handle complex workflows. Only around 20 employees remained at Adept after the Amazon deal. Bloomberg noted only four people currently list Adept as their employer on LinkedIn. 1. Microsoft and Inflection Microsoft kicked off the reverse acquihire trend last March when it agreed to pay chatbot startup Inflection about $653 million in a deal that effectively gutted the startup. The move included hiring founders Mustafa Suleyman and Karén Simonya and most of Inflection’s staff. Around $620 million was for nonexclusive licensing rihts to Inflection’s AI models, and a $33 million payment for Inflection to waive any legal claims related to the hiring of its staff. Inflection had raised $1.3 billion in June 2023. However, Bloomberg noted CEO Suleyman was worried about the companys ability to raise enough funds to stay viable given the size of its competition. The deal triggered a FTC investigation to determine whether it was designed to avoid antitrust review while allowing Microsoft control over Inflection. Inflection is still in operation, but has changed course to focus from building new AI models to working on AI in the enterprise space. Sean White, a former Mozilla executive, became the new CEO. White told Bloomberg that Inflection is still in rebuilding mode: The ship, over time, was slowly replaced, board by board, piece by piece, right? But it was still always the same ship, he said.
Category:
E-Commerce
Amazon is the the most efficient, popular online retailer. So maybe it shouldnt be surprising that its a gold mine for scammers. These individuals, bless their blackened hearts, are adept at crafting new and increasingly plausible ways to trick the unsuspectingand posing as Amazon is an easy way to attract attention. So, with a healthy dose of skepticism, let’s examine a few of their more popular ruses. And, more importantly, how to avoid becoming the next victim. Your Account Is On Hold! This particular chestnut arrives via email, often with a subject line designed to induce mild panic. It’s adorned with a passable Amazon logo and a link, invariably urging you to verify your details or update your billing information. How to avoid it: Amazon, for all its technological prowess, rarely communicates critical account issues via unsolicited links in an email. Outsmarting this one can be done the same way you outsmart just about every other phishing email out there. Make sure to examine the sender’s address. Does it genuinely end in “@amazon.com”? Or is it a peculiar string of characters, perhaps including amazon.com somewhere? The latter is a strong indicator its a scam. In the message itself, are there peculiar grammatical constructions or spellings that suggest English might not be the author’s primary language? These subtle imperfections are often telltale signs, though theyre getting harder to spot thanks to AI. And finally, resist the urge to click. If theres genuinely an issue with your Amazon account, manually navigating to Amazon.com in your browser and logging in will reveal all. Any legitimate alerts will be visible there. The “Unexpected Refund” Text Message This rather sneaky tactic involves a text message, ostensibly from Amazon, informing you that a recent purchase of yours has failed some sort of routine inspection. Perhaps it’s being recalled, or simply isn’t up to Amazon’s exacting standards. The good news, the message purports, is that a full refund is due, often without the hassle of returning the offending item. All you need do is click the convenient link provided to claim your compensation. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, among others, has recently issued warnings about this particular brand of mischief. How to avoid it: Excitement for an unexpected windfall should be tempered with a healthy dose of doubt. For starters, while Amazon does send legitimate texts, an unsolicited refund notification, particularly for an unspecified item and without requiring a return, is highly suspect. Clicking the link in the text message will, in all likelihood, lead you to a meticulously crafted phishing page that looks just like the official Amazon login pagejust waiting to collect your Amazon credentials, payment information, and any other personal details you’re willing to volunteer. Should you harbor even a fleeting thought that the message might be legitimate, bypass the text entirely by logging into your Amazon account via the official website or the app. Any legitimate refund or recall information will be clearly displayed within your order history or official notifications. The “Accidental Over-Refund” This is a somewhat more sophisticated deception. You might receive a call or an email asserting that Amazon has, through some inexplicable error, refunded you too much for a recent return. The request is for you to remit the “overpayment,” often via the purchase of gift cards or a wire transfer. How to avoid it: Before doing anything, consult your actual bank statements or Amazon account to confirm the alleged overpayment. It’s almost certain you’ll find no such anomaly. When it comes to Amazon’s refund protocol, the companys internal processes are reasonably sophisticated. Should a genuine error occur, the company would rectify it internally, not solicit funds from you via questionable methods certainly not gift cards! And if anyone purports to be from Amazon and requests remote access to your computer to “correct” a refund issue, it’s time to end the conversation. Amazon will never, ever, ever ask for access to your computer. Your Order Has Shipped!” Wait, what order? This particular trick plays on a combination of alarm and curiosity. A plausible-looking order confirmation arrives in your inbox for an itemoften expensive that you most certainly didnt purchase. The objective is to prompt you to click the “Cancel Order” or “View Details” link in a state of agitation. How to avoid it: Bypass the email entirely. Log into your Amazon account and go to your “Orders” section. If the supposed order isn’t there, it’s a fabrication. Though generally ill-advised, should you feel compelled to examine a link, hover your mouse cursor over it and observe the URL that appears. If it deviates significantly from www.amazon.com, then it’s best left unclicked. The “Mystery Package” Brushing Scam This particular oddity is less about financial theft and more about system manipulation. You receive a package from Amazon, addressed to you, containing an item you never orderedoften something inexpensive and utterly random. The purpose? A third-party seller is using your details to create fake purchases, allowing them to post fraudulent positive reviews under your name, thereby artificially boosting their product’s standing. How to avoid it: While seemingly harmless, receiving freealbeit often useless goods does indicate your personal information is being exploited. Do a good deed by contacting Amazon customer service and reporting the unsolicited package. The company takes a dim view of such practices. And given that your address is being used, a periodic review of your credit report for any other unusual activity is probably in order.
Category:
E-Commerce
Its the story as old as (industrial) time. In the design/innovation world, not every great result will carry its makers name. There are some notable exceptions. Corning is the widely known supplier of ultradurable glass (Gorilla Glass) used in iPhones, for example. And GORE-TEX is known for premium outdoor gears breathable waterproof membrane, a material of choice. But behind most every iconic solution there are scores of silent partners like our own, Chang Robotics, whose involvement may never be known. Herein lies the problem: How can you gain recognition, build authority, and attract new business while honoring strict NDAs or white-label relationships? I know this challenge keenly. We provide scores of organizations with game-changing automation. But how will the next set of Fortune 500 CEOs considering new automation or reshoring know they should talk to us? We are far from alone. In 2022, there were some 239,000 U.S. manufacturing organizations engineering firms, product designers, and R&D labs. All but 4,177 have fewer than 500 employees. We comprise the legions whose design and production touches most products we experience, but whose names are seldom part of the story.Here are five ways to share the news about our achievements to allow us to scale: 1. Tell the story without naming names One of the most effective strategies is to frame your achievements by category, not by client. Rather than revealing client names we describe the following: The type of client: e.g., a Fortune 100 healthcare device manufacturer or a leading North American foods and packaging provider. The challenge solved: e.g., We accelerated time-to-market by 42% for a new diagnostic platform. The impact achieved: e.g., We are eliminating the use of PFAs (forever chemicals) in food packaging. We can maintain confidentiality while still showcasing credible and impactful stories. In some cases, we can show the world a physical product in final development before any branding is attached. Sometimes after time passes and development cycles are complete, customers may be willing to officially or unofficially acknowledge a partners role. Or they may allow the client to use them as a confidential reference, or name them as client if you dont disclose confidential details of your work. Any of these moves, especially in aggregate, can speed your ability to gain the authority you deserve. 2. Own your domain expertise through thought leadership Even when you cant name who youre working with, you can be very clear about what you do and why it matters. Take every possible opportunity to publish thought leadership reports that explore: Emerging trends in your field Lessons learned from anonymous project work Predictions about where your segment is headed Provide this information in as specific and meaningful detail as possible. We do this frequently through white papers and research reports about the industries and development categories we touch. This strategy positions your brand as a go-to expert without violating confidential ground. Some of your clients or prospective clients may even be willing to participate in the white paper projects as sources. 3. Create your own use cases When you can’t speak about the solutions you’ve built for others, consider building your own. Create demo products, concept videos, or “hypothetical” use cases that mirror real-world applications aligned with industries you’re targeting. Ortaken to full fruitionunderwrite and support portfolio firms of your own. Weve stepped into this arena, creating the Chang Robotics Fund, which has already invested in eight companies. It is allowing us to scale in several significant ways: 1) We can be fully visible for our roles in each portfolio company. 2) We can display the results of our technical prowess. 3) Perhaps most valuable for us, some results are based on IP from our core employees. This provides them the opportunity to participate as equity owners in their projects while also enjoying the security of their employee positions. To a large degree, this is a model where everyone wins. 4. Gain visibility through the right channels In your effort to gain authority in your sector, focus on information channels that reward expertise over promotional content such as: Contribute to leading business and trade publications or speak at industry events. My participation in the Fast Company Innovation Council is an example of this. Use platforms like LinkedIn, X, and even TikTok to share expertise and insights (not sales pitches) aligned with the vertical markets you serve. I cannot emphasize the value of these efforts enough, as they comprise some of our most successful achievements in driving new business in 2025-2026. These environments elevate your voice among peers and prospects without needing to self-promote or name-drop. 5. Partner with clients for joint wins When your clients can publicly acknowledge your role, even as a footnote, be ready to draft joint case studies, share in award applications, and coauthor technical papers or conference presentations. This is more difficult when clients are publicly traded organizations. But many clients (and particularly major university clients and partners) are open to win-win mutual visibility. This is especially true in technical fields where peer credibility counts, and the academic research can be helpful for your own organization as well. Final words Invisibility is not inevitable. For ingredient brands, strategic storytelling, anonymized case studies, and consistent thought leadership can earn you deserved attention and credibilityeven if your logo never appears on the box. Matthew Chang is founder and principal engineer of Chang Robotics.
Category:
E-Commerce
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