SpaceX has exercised its option to acquire artificial intelligence startup Cursor in an all-stock transaction valued at $60 billion, the company announced. The acquisition comes just days after SpaceX's landmark initial public offering on the Nasdaq stock exchange, which valued the company at approximately $2.1 trillion.
SpaceX had previously secured the right to either acquire Cursor for $60 billion or pay $10 billion for a partnership deal announced in April. The company chose to exercise the acquisition option, with Cursor's parent company Anysphere receiving SpaceX stock rather than cash. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026.
The timing of the acquisition reflects SpaceX's soaring valuation following its public market debut. The company's shares rose approximately 50 percent from their $135 IPO price, at one point reaching a valuation of $2.97 trillion and briefly overtaking Amazon as the world's fifth most valuable company. The strong stock performance provides SpaceX with valuable currency for acquisitions, as noted by hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, who observed that the company's high valuation means acquisitions require fewer shares to complete.
Cursor operates an artificial intelligence-powered coding application with more than 1 million users. Analysts argue the acquisition gives SpaceX valuable access to professional developers who already rely on Cursor's tools daily. Harrison Rolfes, an analyst at PitchBook, stated that owning Cursor represents "a faster path to enterprise AI revenue than winning the model race."
The acquisition also addresses a significant constraint on Cursor's growth. The startup has lacked access to the computing power necessary to compete effectively with larger rivals like Anthropic and OpenAI. As a datacentre owner, SpaceX can provide the computational resources Cursor needs to scale its operations and improve its coding models.
In SpaceX's IPO filing, the company indicated that Cursor's access to developers' data, including coding requests and design decisions, could enhance xAI's Grok model. Gil Luria, head of technology research at DA Davidson, suggested the acquisition will "improve SpaceX's position in the frontier model race with Anthropic and OpenAI," noting that Grok requires robust coding capabilities for enterprise customers.
SpaceX already operates xAI as a separate artificial intelligence company, creating questions about how Cursor will integrate into Musk's broader AI strategy. The acquisition represents one of the largest AI deals in recent years and underscores intense competition among major technology companies to secure AI talent and capabilities.
The deal will not use proceeds from SpaceX's record-breaking $75 billion IPO, according to regulatory filings. Instead, the transaction relies on SpaceX's newly strengthened balance sheet and soaring stock price to fund the expansion.