Elon Musk’s SpaceX has agreed to acquire AI coding startup Anysphere in a $60 billion all-stock deal. The purchase is aimed at strengthening SpaceX’s position in enterprise AI tools. It also deepens its push into the fast-growing AI software market.
The deal follows SpaceX’s strong Nasdaq debut last week. The company’s valuation crossed $2 trillion after the listing. Investor momentum has remained strong, with shares continuing to rise after the acquisition news.
Cursor, developed by Anysphere, is one of the most popular AI coding agents in Silicon Valley. It competes directly with systems from OpenAI and Anthropic. The platform helps developers automate coding tasks using AI models.
However, Cursor has struggled with limited access to computing power. This has restricted its ability to scale against larger rivals. Despite that, it has built strong efficiency-focused models that deliver high performance at lower cost.
SpaceX had been evaluating Cursor for months before finalizing the deal. In April, it even offered two options: either a $60 billion acquisition or a $10 billion partnership. The company sees Cursor as a key asset for expanding its AI coding capabilities.
The deal also supports xAI, which SpaceX acquired earlier in February. Cursor’s developer data, including coding requests and design decisions, is expected to help improve AI models such as Grok. SpaceX also plans to release a new AI model on Cursor along with Grok Build, its coding agent that has been jointly trained for months.
The transaction is fully stock-based, meaning SpaceX will not use IPO proceeds to fund the deal. It is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026. The structure allows SpaceX to use its high valuation while limiting equity dilution.
Following the announcement, SpaceX shares jumped 10% in early trading. The rally added about $247 billion to its market value, pushing it to $2.53 trillion. If gains continue, SpaceX could overtake Amazon to become the fifth-largest company globally.
Cursor has grown rapidly since its launch in 2022. It now generates around $2.6 billion in annualized enterprise revenue. Its enterprise sales have also seen sharp growth recently, according to company data shared with Reuters.
The startup is backed by major investors, including Andreessen Horowitz and Thrive Capital. It also counts Nvidia and Alphabet among its supporters. Reports also suggested Cursor had been exploring a funding round valuing it at $50 billion.
The deal includes a $10 billion termination fee if it collapses under certain conditions. If the failure is due to antitrust issues, the fee drops to $4 billion. It is still unclear how the deal may impact SpaceX’s broader data center agreements.
In recent weeks, SpaceX signed major cloud deals with Anthropic and Google worth around $26 billion annually combined. These agreements include 90-day termination clauses, giving flexibility in computing capacity. Analysts believe SpaceX could eventually shift capacity internally depending on demand for Grok and Cursor.
