SpaceX Eyes $60B Cursor Deal, Signaling New AI Coding Era

Elon Musk’s SpaceX revealed that it has secured an option to acquire Cursor, the AI coding assistant developed by Anysphere, in a deal valued at $60 billion later this year, with an alternative $10 billion payment tied to their joint work if the acquisition does not go through. 

This signals that the AI coding race has entered a completely different league.

SpaceX Steps In To Buy Cursor With $60 Billion Offer

On 22nd April, SpaceX announced on X that Cursor has granted the company an option to acquire the startup for $60 billion later this year. 

If the full acquisition does not happen, SpaceX will instead pay $10 billion, structured essentially as a breakup fee tied to the two companies’ ongoing collaboration. The reasoning behind the deal was stated clearly by SpaceX in their post: 

“The combination of Cursor’s leading product and distribution to expert software engineers with SpaceX’s million H100 equivalent Colossus training supercomputer will allow us to build the world’s most useful models.”

They added: “SpaceXAI and Cursor are now working closely together to create the world’s best coding and knowledge work AI.”

However, this partnership makes sense on paper. Cursor is one of the fastest-growing developer tools in tech history. 

FTX Missed Billion-Dollar Opportunity

Back in April 2022, FTX’s trading arm, Alameda, invested $200,000 in Cursor for about 5% equity. However, during FTX’s bankruptcy process, this stake was sold at the same price.

Fast forward to today, and that same stake of Anysphere, based on Cursor’s valuation, has crossed $50 billion in recent funding talks. 

This makes it one of the biggest missed investment opportunities linked to the FTX collapse.

Why SpaceX Is Not Buying Cursor Right Now – IPO Plan

Interestingly, SpaceX is not rushing to complete the acquisition. The company is preparing for a potential IPO that could value it at around $1.75 trillion, with plans to raise $75 billion.

Closing a major $60 billion acquisition before the IPO would force the company to update its financial filings and disclosures, potentially pushing back the entire listing timeline.

So instead of buying now, SpaceX has locked in the right to buy later, keeping the IPO process clean while securing its position in the AI coding race before a competitor moves in.

What Comes Next

For now, all eyes are on three things, SpaceX’s IPO timeline, the outcome of Cursor’s ongoing $2 billion funding round, and whether the $60 billion acquisition option gets exercised before year’s end.

As demand for AI coding tools continues to rise, the company is positioned at the center of a major tech shift.