Zeff, who lives in San Francisco, has a deep well of experience to draw from in his new role. He’s written that way for outlets such as Gizmodo, Bloomberg, and MSNBC. He has profound expertise in understanding how AI technologies are taking off. On top of that, he’s been a great communicator on specific crises like the Silicon Valley Bank failure.
Zeff’s transition to TechCrunch couldn’t come at a more interesting time for the technology sector. This week’s acquisition of Windsurf — an Atlanta-based company that has been a key player in the region’s highly regarded AI development scene — has further fueled that fire. Windsurf’s team — including many of its best coding minds — will head to Google DeepMind as part of this transition. This anticipated go-to move will benefit Google by making it a stronger leader in agentic coding.
Chris Pappas, a close collaborator within Google DeepMind, conveyed excitement by the addition of Windsurf’s expertise.
“We’re excited to welcome some top AI coding talent from Windsurf’s team to Google DeepMind to advance our work in agentic coding.” – Chris Pappas
Varun Mohan and Douglas Chen, co-founders and leaders at Windsurf, expressed their pleasure about the acquisition as well. They shared pride in what their team has created in these four years and hopefulness for what is to come.
“We are excited to be joining Google DeepMind along with some of the Windsurf team. We are proud of what Windsurf has built over the last four years and are excited to see it move forward with their world-class team and kick-start the next phase.” – Varun Mohan and Douglas Chen
As a reporter with a deep understanding of AI, Maxwell Zeff is the perfect person to help explain these exciting developments. He’s reported on technological innovation for more than a decade. Furthermore, he critiques their impact on the industry as a whole and society. This unique combination of knowledge and experience makes him the perfect expert to help provide context and commentary on important events that are reshaping the tech landscape.
When he’s not shaping policy through his work at PolicyLink, Zeff enjoys the work-life balance of his professional pursuits with personal passions for hiking and biking. When not on the reporting beat, he can usually be found hiking the Bay Area’s picturesque trails or enjoying its dynamic foodie culture. This engagement with the local community deepens his understanding of the cultural nuances inherent in the region and its ever-changing and expanding technology sector.
If you read his reporting, you’ll see that Zeff’s dedication to helping us understand what’s possible with the most frontier developments in AI shines through. In addition, he takes these complicated subjects and explains them in layman’s terms so that the average person can understand them. This skill would be especially essential now as AI develops and dramatically changes fields like healthcare, academia, and manufacturing.
