SpaceX Acquires AI Coding Startup Cursor for $60 Billion Following Record IPO

SpaceX announced on Tuesday that it will acquire Cursor, an artificial intelligence coding startup, for $60 billion in an all-stock deal, as shares of Elon Musk’s rocket company continued to surge after its record-breaking initial public offering. The acquisition, disclosed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, with Cursor becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of SpaceX.

Near 11:30 a.m. (1530 GMT), shares of SpaceX, formally Space Exploration Technologies Corp., traded at $214.29, up 11.2 percent, lifting its market value above Amazon and making it the fifth-largest enterprise by market valuation. The deal had been anticipated after the two companies announced a partnership in April that included a clause allowing SpaceX to potentially purchase Cursor for $60 billion.

Founded in 2022 and based in San Francisco, Cursor specializes in AI-powered software code creation, particularly for business applications. Initially a platform for developers to interface with other AI models such as Anthropic’s Claude or Google’s Gemini, Cursor’s parent company Anysphere launched its own model, Composer, in late October. The latest version, Composer 2.5, has been described by Cursor as a “substantial improvement” over its predecessor, according to a May 18 blog post.

Combining Cursor’s software and product expertise with SpaceX’s “Colossus” AI training supercomputer will enable the company “to build the world’s most useful models,” the companies said in April. Cursor’s growth has been fueled by the rise of “vibe coding,” where users build applications through AI-executed commands rather than writing code, and by the increasing capacity of AI “agents” that handle sophisticated tasks. Its last funding round in November valued Cursor at $29 billion.

The acquisition marks a significant expansion of SpaceX’s capabilities beyond aerospace into advanced artificial intelligence, leveraging Cursor’s technology to enhance its own AI development efforts. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.