SpaceX strikes deal to acquire Cursor for up to $60 billion

SpaceX announced it has obtained the right to buy AI coding startup Cursor for $60 billion later this year, or alternatively pay $10 billion for the collaborative work the two companies are undertaking. The announcement was made via a post on X, stating that "SpaceXAI and @cursor_ai are now working closely together to create the world's best coding and knowledge work AI." The post arrived just ahead of a New York Times report citing two people familiar with the situation who said 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, writing that 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."

SpaceX merged with his AI startup xAI in February in a transaction Musk valued at $1.25 trillion, and the combined entity is expected to pursue what could be a record IPO.

The deal comes amid significant corporate activity around Elon Musk's ventures. SpaceX merged with his AI startup xAI in February in a transaction Musk valued at $1.25 trillion, and the combined entity is expected to pursue what could be a record IPO. Separately, Cursor had 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 — both Andreessen and Nvidia are also backers of xAI. For xAI, the Cursor deal represents a strategic push to compete with OpenAI's Codex and Anthropic's Claude in the AI coding assistant market. SpaceX had also recently hired two programmers from Cursor, 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

1. 01SpaceX obtained the right to acquire Cursor for $60 billion later this year, or pay $10 billion for their ongoing work together.
2. 02SpaceX posted on X that 'SpaceXAI and @cursor_ai are now working closely together to create the world's best coding and knowledge work AI.'
3. 03Cursor CEO Michael Truell confirmed the partnership, citing excitement about scaling up Composer, Cursor's AI model.
4. 04The New York Times initially reported the acquisition price as $50 billion; it updated its story after SpaceX's post.
5. 05