SpaceX has officially agreed to acquire Cursor in a deal valued at $60 billion, marking a significant step in Elon Musk’s ambition to strengthen the company’s position in the rapidly evolving AI coding sector.According to a regulatory filing on Tuesday, Cursor’s investors will receive SpaceX stock based on the startup’s implied equity value. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.This acquisition follows SpaceX’s recent initial public offering (IPO), which saw its stock surge over 40% in the first two trading sessions, reflecting strong investor interest. As of Tuesday morning, shares rose by an additional 6%, potentially elevating SpaceX’s market valuation to approximately $2.7 trillion, positioning it as the fifth-largest publicly traded company globally.SpaceX’s AI division, now branded as SpaceXAI, aims to enhance its AI-powered coding tools, an area where Musk has acknowledged the company lags behind competitors like Anthropic PBC and OpenAI.Recent reports indicate that SpaceX employees have been collaborating with Cursor on coding and computational projects. Cursor’s AI assistant, launched in 2023, has rapidly gained traction among software developers, becoming a key player in the emerging trend of ‘vibe coding’.Prior to the acquisition announcement, Cursor was reportedly in discussions for a funding round that would have valued it at over $50 billion. Musk’s investments in AI have led to significant financial implications for SpaceX, which recorded a net loss of $4.94 billion last year, largely due to the costs associated with xAI’s initiatives. Despite these challenges, SpaceX continues to pursue its AI ambitions, including the development of its chatbot Grok, while also renting out data center capacity to competitors.
