SpaceX strikes deal to acquire Cursor for $60 billion
SpaceX has obtained the right to acquire AI coding startup Cursor for $60 billion later this year, or alternatively pay $10 billion for ongoing collaborative work between the two companies.
Score breakdown
Developers building on Cursor should watch closely, as a SpaceX/xAI acquisition could reshape Cursor's product roadmap, pricing, and competitive positioning against OpenAI Codex and Anthropic Claude.
- 01SpaceX obtained the right to acquire Cursor for $60 billion later this year, or pay $10 billion for their ongoing collaborative work.
- 02SpaceX's announcement preceded a New York Times report claiming the acquisition price was $50 billion — the Times updated its story after SpaceX's post.
- 03Cursor CEO Michael Truell confirmed the partnership, citing plans to scale up Composer, Cursor's AI model.
SpaceX announced via a post on X that it has obtained the right to acquire AI coding startup Cursor for $60 billion later this year, or to pay $10 billion for the collaborative work the two companies are currently undertaking. "SpaceXAI and @cursor_ai are now working closely together to create the world's best coding and knowledge work AI," the company stated. The announcement arrived just ahead of a New York Times report claiming SpaceX had agreed to purchase Cursor for $50 billion — the Times subsequently updated its story to reflect SpaceX's own post. Cursor CEO Michael Truell confirmed the partnership on X, saying he was "Excited to partner with the SpaceX team to scale up Composer," referring to Cursor's AI model, and calling it "a meaningful step on our path to build the best place to code with AI."
Cursor had separately been in talks to raise $2 billion at a valuation of over $50 billion, with Andreessen Horowitz set to co-lead the round and Nvidia and Thrive Capital also expected to participate.
The deal follows SpaceX's February merger with Elon Musk's AI startup xAI, which Musk valued at $1.25 trillion, with the combined entity expected to pursue a record IPO. Cursor had separately been in talks to raise $2 billion at a valuation of over $50 billion, with Andreessen Horowitz set to co-lead the round and Nvidia and Thrive Capital also expected to participate. For xAI, the Cursor deal represents a direct effort to compete with OpenAI's Codex and Anthropic's Claude in the AI coding assistant market. SpaceX had also recently hired two former Cursor programmers, Andrew Milich and Jason Ginsberg, following a wave of co-founder departures from xAI. The announcement arrives less than a week before the start of the Musk v. Altman trial, a high-profile legal case between Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, whose company was an early investor in Cursor.
Key facts
- 01SpaceX obtained the right to acquire Cursor for $60 billion later this year, or pay $10 billion for their ongoing collaborative work.
- 02SpaceX's announcement preceded a New York Times report claiming the acquisition price was $50 billion — the Times updated its story after SpaceX's post.
- 03Cursor CEO Michael Truell confirmed the partnership, citing plans to scale up Composer, Cursor's AI model.
- 04SpaceX merged with Elon Musk's xAI in February in a deal Musk valued at $1.25 trillion.
- 05Cursor was in talks to raise $2 billion at a valuation of over $50 billion, with Andreessen Horowitz, Nvidia, and Thrive Capital expected to participate.