How Mechanize went from a $9M seed to $1.5B Google acquisition talks in just 100 days

Tech Funding News · 3 weeks ago · 46

Google is negotiating to acquire Mechanize's technology and team for over $1.5 billion, just 103 days after the startup raised $9.1 million at a $500 million valuation in April 2026. The deal would involve licensing Mechanize's simulated work environments and coding evaluation systems rather than a full company acquisition, following Google's earlier reverse acqui-hire strategy with Character AI and Windsurf. This acquisition reflects Google's effort to catch up to Anthropic and OpenAI in AI coding tools, a segment generating real revenue.