Microsoft hires the team of Sequoia-backed AI collaboration platform, Cove

<p id="speakable-summary" class="wp-block-paragraph">The team behind <a href="https://cove.ai/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Cove</a>, a Sequoia-backed startup that was working on an AI-powered collaboration board, has joined Microsoft, according to an email sent to customers informing them that Cove’s service is shutting down.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Cove was founded in late 2023 by Stephen Chau, Andy Szybalski, and Mike Chu, all of whom worked on Google Maps features like Street View. The startup <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/08/former-google-maps-engineers-get-sequioa-backing-to-build-out-an-ai-powered-collboration-board/">raised $6 million in a seed round</a> from Sequoia Capital, Elad Gil, Homebrew, Adverb, Scott Belsky, and Lenny Rachitsky in 2024.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Its tool was an infinite whiteboard where AI can generate different blocks for tasks like trip planning. The founders felt that the chat interface for AI was not editable, and a canvas provided more flexibility when going in different directions with prompts.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Cove also allowed users to access a built-in browser, PDFs, and images to give more context to its AI, which could create new cards, tables, and lists.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The startup competed with the likes of <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/05/visual-collaboration-company-miro-valued-at-17-5b-following-400m-in-new-funding/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Miro</a>, <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/12/16/tldraw-offers-a-collaborative-whiteboard-without-any-login/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TLDraw</a>, and <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2023/12/21/meet-kosmik-a-visual-canvas-with-an-in-built-pdf-reader-and-a-web-browser/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kosmik</a>.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The company said in an email to customers that the entire Cove team is joining Microsoft and the product will shut down on April 1, and all user data will be deleted. Cove mentioned that it has refunded all subscriptions for March and is offering a <a href="https://cove.ai/migration" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">data export process</a>.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“When we started Cove, we set out to reimagine how people collaborate with AI. As model capabilities have accelerated, our conviction in that mission has only grown stronger. We’re thrilled to continue this work at Microsoft AI, where we’ll have the opportunity to pursue an even bigger vision,” the company <a href="https://cove.ai/blog/an-exciting-next-chapter" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">said in a blog post on its site</a>.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In addition, the company said that “the ideas behind it [Cove] will live on” within Microsoft. Notably, Microsoft added Copilot to its own collaboration product, <a href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2023/09/21/announcing-microsoft-copilot-your-everyday-ai-companion/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Whiteboard</a>, in 2023.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">TechCrunch reached out to Microsoft to understand how it plans to integrate Cove’s technology within its ecosystem, but did not immediately hear back. </p>