Behind Factory Founder’s Spat With Cognition Over Key Hire

A dispute over high-flying AI coding firm Cognition’s hiring of a prominent sales leader who had advised rival Factory erupted into a public feud, dividing startups as well as investors within the same venture firm.

Spats between competing startups and their investors flare up every so often in Silicon Valley. Even by those standards, Wednesday’s brawl stood out—exposing how the fight over AI talent has spilled beyond top researchers into other key jobs, and underscoring that a long-standing taboo against VC firms backing rivals still has its adherents.