Update, June 6:
Anthropic co-founder and Chief Science Officer Jared Kaplan confirms that Windsurf's access to Claude models was cut mainly because of reports that OpenAI is buying Windsurf.
Kaplan says Anthropic wants to focus on "lasting partnerships" and doesn't see a future in providing its models to a direct competitor. Speaking at TC Sessions: AI 2025, Kaplan said, "I think it would be odd for us to be selling Claude to OpenAI."
He also points to limited computing resources as another reason for the move, but adds that Anthropic is working to expand capacity with new infrastructure from Amazon.
Original article, June 4:
Anthropic slashes Claude 3.x access on Windsurf following OpenAI's reported $3 billion takeover
Shortly after news emerges that OpenAI plans to acquire Windsurf, Anthropic pulls almost all access to its Claude 3.x models from the coding platform.
Windsurf says the move, announced with less than a week's notice, affects Claude 3.5 Sonnet, 3.7 Sonnet, and 3.7 Sonnet Thinking. While some limited capacity remains through third-party providers, it is not enough to meet current demand.
As a result, Windsurf cuts direct access to Claude 3.x models for both free and Pro trial users. The only way to use these models now is through a bring-your-own-key (BYOK) setup. Claude Sonnet 4 is also still available via BYOK.
To help users bridge the gap, Windsurf temporarily offers Gemini 2.5 Pro at a lower price, 0.75x instead of the usual 1x. The company positions Gemini as a high-performance alternative on its platform.
Windsurf calls move anti-industry
Windsurf stresses that it has been "continuously willing to pay for the capacity" of Anthropic's models and even lists Claude as a recommended model. The company argues that the sudden withdrawal hurts its own service and sends a troubling message to the entire industry.
"We are concerned that Anthropic's conduct will harm many in the industry, not just Windsurf," the startup writes. Windsurf builds an AI-powered code generation tool that competes with Anthropic's own Claude Code.
Word of OpenAI's plans to acquire Windsurf (formerly known as Codeium) for a reported $3 billion leaked through Bloomberg just days before Anthropic's move. By pulling access, Anthropic seems to be blocking a future OpenAI-owned competitor from using Claude models. The company may also want to prevent data generated by Claude from ending up, directly or indirectly, inside OpenAI's ecosystem.
Windsurf points out that its real strength goes beyond just the underlying AI models, highlighting its product architecture, programming-focused interface, and tools for preview and deployment.
Still, some argue that none of this matters if the code quality isn't there—and that ultimately comes down to the AI model itself. Anthropic is generally considered the leader on this front, even though the top models from different companies are now very close in quality.
