Anthropic Restricts Windsurf’s Direct Access to Claude AI Models
Windsurf, the fast-growing AI coding startup reportedly in acquisition talks with OpenAI, has revealed that Anthropic dramatically reduced its first-party access to Claude 3.7 Sonnet and Claude 3.5 Sonnet AI models.
Sudden Access Reduction Sparks Backlash
In a public statement on X, Windsurf CEO Varun Mohan criticized Anthropic for providing minimal notice about the access changes, forcing the startup to scramble for alternative third-party compute providers.
“With less than five days of notice, Anthropic decided to cut off nearly all of our first-party capacity to all Claude 3.x models. Given the short notice, we may see some short-term Claude 3.x model availability issues…” — Varun Mohan (@_mohansolo) June 3, 2025
Claude 4 Launch Exacerbates Tensions
The conflict escalated during Anthropic’s recent Claude 4 launch, where Windsurf claims it was excluded from direct access while compe*****s like:
- Anysphere’s Cursor
- Cognition’s Devin
- Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot
received immediate integration privileges.
Anthropic’s Response
Anthropic spokesperson Steve Mnich defended the decision, stating:
“We’re prioritizing capacity for sustainable partnerships that allow us to effectively serve the broader developer community. Developers can still access Claude through our direct API integration and partner ecosystem.”
Impact on Developers
The changes have created significant challenges:
- Windsurf users face potential service disruptions
- Developers must use more expensive “bring your own key” workarounds
- Some users are migrating to compe***** platforms
Ronald Mannak, a Swift developer and Windsurf customer, told TechCrunch he switched to Cursor specifically for better Claude 4 access.
Industry Context
The AI-assisted coding market (“vibe coding”) has become increasingly competitive, with:
- Anthropic launching its own Claude Code in February
- OpenAI’s potential $3B Windsurf acquisition
- Major players investing heavily in developer tools
Despite reaching $100M ARR in April, Windsurf’s growth may be hampered by these access limitations in the critical AI coding space.
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