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The Biggest Tech Acquisitions of the Decade So Far

The Biggest Tech Acquisitions of the Decade So Far
• • 7 min read

The Biggest Tech Acquisitions of the Decade (So Far)

In the fast-moving tech world, large acquisitions often drive innovation and shake up markets. When giants like Google, Microsoft, or Amazon buy emerging companies, they instantly add new technology and talent to their ranks. These deals can redefine competition and hint at which technologies will dominate next. Let’s explore some of the largest and most impactful tech acquisitions of the last ten years.

Top Tech Acquisitions of the Last Decade

Over the past decade, tech titans have snapped up dozens of companies to gain new capabilities and expand into hot markets. Here are a few of the biggest deals:

  • Google - Windsurf AI ($2.4B): A recent 2025 deal where Google DeepMind licensed a cutting-edge AI coding startup’s technology and hired its leadership team, advancing Google’s AI coding tools.
  • Microsoft - Nuance Communications ($19.7B): A 2021 acquisition of a leader in speech recognition and medical dictation software, bolstering Microsoft’s healthcare cloud and AI offerings.
  • Salesforce - Slack ($27.7B): A late-2020 merger combining a top customer-relationship platform with a leading team-chat service, strengthening Salesforce’s collaboration tools against Microsoft Teams.
  • NVIDIA - Arm ($40B, attempted): A proposed 2020 deal to buy chip designer Arm, which would have merged NVIDIA’s AI chip portfolio with Arm’s CPU technology. The plan was ultimately cancelled amid regulatory concerns.
  • Apple - AI startup acquisitions: Apple quietly acquired numerous AI and machine-learning startups (such as Turi, Xnor.ai, and Voysis) to boost Siri, on-device ML, and AR capabilities, typically for tens or hundreds of millions each.
  • Meta (Facebook) - VR/AR companies: Meta has made major investments in virtual and augmented reality, including the $2B purchase of Oculus VR in 2014 and later acquisitions of VR game studios and AR hardware firms to build its metaverse ecosystem.
  • Amazon - Healthcare & Robotics: Amazon expanded beyond retail by acquiring companies like PillPack (an online pharmacy), One Medical (primary care), and multiple robotics/AI startups (for warehouse automation and home robots like Roomba).

Deal Details

Google Acquires Windsurf AI ($2.4B)

In 2025 Google agreed to pay $2.4 billion in a unique deal for Windsurf AI, a startup developing advanced AI coding tools. Rather than outright buying the company, Google DeepMind licensed Windsurf’s technology and hired its CEO and core engineers. The move came after rival OpenAI had offered $3 billion for Windsurf, underscoring how hot the race for AI talent has become. By absorbing Windsurf’s technology and team, Google instantly boosts its AI capabilities and coding tools.

Microsoft Acquires Nuance Communications ($19.7B)

In April 2021 Microsoft announced a $19.7 billion acquisition of Nuance Communications, completing the deal in early 2022. Nuance is a leader in speech recognition and AI-powered dictation software, particularly for healthcare providers. Microsoft said this deal would accelerate its industry-specific cloud efforts by adding AI-driven medical transcription and voice recognition into Azure. Nuance’s technology helps doctors create charts and notes more efficiently, giving Microsoft a stronger foothold in healthcare IT.

Salesforce Acquires Slack ($27.7B)

Salesforce completed its $27.7 billion purchase of Slack in mid-2021 (the deal was first announced in late 2020). Slack is a popular team messaging and collaboration platform used by businesses worldwide. Salesforce aimed to create a unified “Slack-first” Customer 360 platform by embedding Slack into its CRM products. In practice, this meant bringing chat, file sharing, and workflow features into Salesforce’s cloud so that sales, marketing, and service teams can collaborate and share data in one place.

NVIDIA’s Attempted Arm Acquisition ($40B)

NVIDIA’s proposed $40 billion acquisition of Arm (announced in 2020) would have combined the chip designer’s CPU expertise with NVIDIA’s GPU and AI chip technology. Arm’s processors are used in nearly all smartphones, so the deal promised to reshape the semiconductor industry. However, regulators in the U.S., UK, and EU raised antitrust and national security concerns, worrying that NVIDIA might favor its own designs over Arm’s traditional licensing model. By early 2022, NVIDIA and SoftBank agreed to abandon the deal, illustrating how even high-profile tech mergers face intense scrutiny.

Apple’s AI Startup Acquisitions

Apple’s approach has been to quietly buy many AI and machine learning startups rather than make one blockbuster deal. Each acquisition is usually small (often under $200M) and focused on talent and technology. For example, Apple spent around $200M to acquire machine-learning startup Turi in 2016, and a similar amount for on-device AI firm Xnor.ai in 2020. Other buys have included voice AI and computer vision companies. These acquisitions brought experts and code into Apple that help Siri, camera, and AR features without much public fanfare.

Meta’s VR/AR Strategy

Meta (formerly Facebook) has aggressively acquired companies in virtual and augmented reality to build its metaverse vision. In 2014 it paid roughly $2 billion to buy Oculus VR, maker of the popular Rift headset. Since then, Meta has purchased VR game studios (like Camouflaj and Twisted Pixel) and AR hardware firms (such as optical lens companies) to build its hardware and content portfolio. These deals help Meta quickly expand its VR/AR ecosystem by adding ready technology and talent.

Amazon’s Healthcare and Robotics Purchases

Amazon has expanded into healthcare and automation through strategic acquisitions. In healthcare, Amazon bought online pharmacy PillPack in 2018 (for about $753M) and announced a deal in 2022 to buy clinic operator One Medical (for about $3.9B). These moves show Amazon’s push into medicine delivery and telehealth. On the robotics side, Amazon acquired Kiva Systems (renamed Amazon Robotics) in 2012 to power its warehouse robots and has since bought other automation firms. In each case, the target’s technology and software are now used inside Amazon’s operations or services.

Strategic Impact of These Deals

  • Accelerated Innovation: Acquired technologies and teams often get integrated fast, jump-starting new products. For example, Google’s Windsurf deal brings ready-made AI coding tools into Google’s portfolio, and Microsoft’s Nuance adds voice and AI capabilities to its cloud services. Such moves shorten development time versus building in-house.
  • Entering New Markets: Many deals instantly open new business areas. Salesforce adding Slack strengthened its enterprise collaboration offerings. Amazon buying PillPack and One Medical pushed it into online healthcare. Acquisitions let companies diversify quickly and serve new customer needs.
  • Competitive Positioning: Big acquisitions can shift industry dynamics. Salesforce vs Microsoft is one example, but also Apple’s stealthy AI buys help it keep pace with peers on smart assistants and AR. These deals often send signals to competitors about which markets matter most.
  • Talent and IP Gain: Beyond products, many acquisitions are about people and intellectual property. Apple’s series of AI purchases is essentially a talent acquisition strategy. Google’s and Amazon’s deals similarly net engineers and patents as much as products. This “acqui-hire” approach lets companies import expertise that would be hard to build internally.
  • Regulatory Lessons: The NVIDIA-Arm story shows that large tech deals now face heavy scrutiny. Companies have learned to prepare for regulatory hurdles and even be willing to walk away if needed. Such scrutiny may shape how big tech approaches future mergers.

Trends and Lessons Learned

  • AI is King: Many of the largest deals involve artificial intelligence. Whether it’s Google scooping up an AI startup or Apple assembling a team of ML labs, companies see AI expertise as worth large investments. These acquisitions underscore that AI remains a top priority for tech leaders.
  • Building Platforms: Several big deals aim to create or extend tech platforms. Salesforce/Slack combined communication with CRM. Microsoft/Nuance fused cloud with healthcare. Amazon’s healthcare buys stretched its reach into medical services. In each case, the acquirer is building a broader ecosystem to lock in customers.
  • Healthcare and Enterprise Growth: Tech companies have aggressively pursued deals in healthcare and enterprise software. The logic is clear: healthcare is a huge, growing market, and cloud-based enterprise services are high-margin businesses. Microsoft and Amazon in healthcare, and Salesforce in enterprise collaboration, reflect that trend.
  • Investing in the Future: Meta’s VR/AR acquisitions and Amazon’s robotics/auto purchases are bets on long-term trends. These fields are not yet fully mature, but these firms want to own the early stages of virtual reality, self-driving vehicles, and home robotics. Early investment could pay off big if these markets take off.
  • Deal Size Invites Scrutiny: As companies spend tens of billions, regulators are watching more closely. The failed NVIDIA-Arm deal is a cautionary tale. Going forward, we may see more creative deal structures (like Google’s licensing of Windsurf) to achieve goals while easing regulatory concerns.

Spotlight: Key Recent Deals

Two of the most talked-about deals illustrate how strategic and complex these acquisitions can be. Google’s 2025 agreement for Windsurf AI (around $2.4B) is unusual in structure: Google licensed Windsurf’s AI coding engine and hired its key team members, effectively merging Windsurf’s expertise into Google DeepMind. We cover this in more detail in our article on Google’s Windsurf AI acquisition. NVIDIA’s attempted Arm purchase is another high-profile case. If completed, it would have combined NVIDIA’s chips with Arm’s designs, but regulators blocked the deal, showing how even massive tech mergers can face roadblocks.

Conclusion

These high-profile tech acquisitions are more than news headlines. They are reshaping industries. By spending billions on AI, cloud, healthcare, VR/AR and more, companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple, Meta, and Amazon are setting the pace for innovation. Each deal brings new technology and talent that can accelerate product development and expand markets. Which of these deals surprised you the most, or changed how you think about the future of tech? Share your thoughts in the comments below!