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title: RIP Cline?: Cline got Acqui-hired by OpenAI? | daily.dev
description: In this video, I break down the major news that OpenAI has acqui-hired at least seven key engineers from the Cline team. I discuss the history of Cline...
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og:description: In this video, I break down the major news that OpenAI has acqui-hired at least seven key engineers from the Cline team. I discuss the history of Cline...
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# RIP Cline?: Cline got Acqui-hired by OpenAI?

**[AICodeKing](https://daily.dev/sources/aicodeking)** · 8 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments

## Summary

In this video, I break down the major news that OpenAI has acqui-hired at least seven key engineers from the Cline team. I discuss the history of Cline (formerly Claude Dev), why OpenAI felt the need to make this move to catch up with Anthropic, and what this means for the future of open-source coding agents. I also share my honest opinion on why this is a controversial move and provide alternatives for current Cline users.

--
Key Takeaways:

🚨 OpenAI has acqui-hired at least seven engineers from Cline, the popular open-source coding agent.
💻 Cline (formerly Claude Dev) became a favorite tool for developers due to its dual Plan and Act modes.
📉 This move indicates OpenAI is scrambling to catch up to Anthropic’s dominance in the coding space.
🔄 If you are worried about Cline's future, forks like Kilo Code and Roo Code are great alternatives.
🤔 An "acqui-hire" effectively guts a startup's team without buying the company outright.
⚠️ This situation highlights the sustainability risks that open-source AI projects face against Big Tech.
🤨 I share my strong take on why this is a "scummy" move and why the original founder was the true visionary.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-O5W7V_8QQ>

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[View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/rip-cline-cline-got-acqui-hired-by-openai--2vqcqqrlb)

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