SpaceX Locks In $60 Billion Option to Acquire AI Coding Giant Cursor

SpaceX has obtained the rights to buy coding startup Cursor for $60 billion later this year — or pay $10 billion for the work the two companies are doing together. The company announced the deal in a post on X, declaring that "SpaceXAI and @cursor_ai are now working closely together to create the world's best coding and knowledge work AI." Elon Musk merged SpaceX with his AI startup xAI in February in a deal he valued at $1.25 trillion, and is now poised to take the combined company public in what will likely be a record IPO. SpaceX isn't acquiring Cursor immediately because of that imminent IPO, a major transaction would require updated filings and financial details, potentially delaying a listing targeting a $2 trillion valuation. Cursor was valued at just $2.5 billion in January of last year, climbed to $9 billion by last May, and was assigned a $29.3 billion post-money valuation when it closed on $2.3 billion in Series D funding in November. The company is no longer proceeding with a planned $2 billion funding round, as the capital was set to fund Cursor's computing needs, which are now being handled by xAI. Cursor CEO Michael Truell wrote on X that he's "Excited to partner with the SpaceX team to scale up Composer," referring to his company's AI model. Tuesday's announcement comes less than a week before a trial begins in Musk v. Altman, a high-profile case between the SpaceX founder and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, whose company was an early investor in Cursor.