SpaceX to acquire AI coding tool Cursor for $60 billion

SpaceX is set to acquire AI coding tool Cursor in a $60 billion all-stock transaction, aiming to enhance its competitive standing against industry giants like Anthropic and OpenAI. The deal, anticipated to close in the third quarter, follows SpaceX's recent initial public offering and a significant restructuring involving its merger with xAI.

Cursor, known for integrating large language models into an IDE, has experienced revenue growth but has seen its market share decline as competitors like Anthropic's Claude Code gained prominence. The company had reportedly been struggling to achieve profitability and faced limitations in computing power.

Earlier this year, xAI provided Cursor with access to its compute infrastructure, and the two entities began collaborating on model training, including xAI's Grok Build. This partnership foreshadowed the current acquisition, which seeks to leverage SpaceX's substantial compute capacity and combine it with Cursor's established product and talent. The move is positioned as a strategic response to address the competitive weaknesses of both entities in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.