SpaceX says partnering with Cursor, option to buy AI startup for $60 billion in high-stakes pre-IPO move | Company Business News

SpaceX has unveiled an ambitious agreement with artificial intelligence startup Cursor, securing the option to acquire the fast-rising coding platform for $60 billion later this year or, alternatively, to invest $10 billion in their ongoing collaboration. The announcement marks a decisive escalation in Elon Musk's efforts to position SpaceX at the forefront of AI-driven software development ahead of a potential public listing that could rank among the largest in history.

The Cursor partnership now gives SpaceX access to one of the most commercially successful AI coding products on the market. Cursor's AI assistant, first launched in 2023, helps software developers write, test, and debug code at scale. It has become a central tool in what the technology industry has taken to calling the "vibe coding" era -- a shorthand for AI-assisted development workflows that have rapidly transformed how software is built.

Cursor president Oskar Schulz underscored the appeal of the arrangement from his company's perspective: "The SpaceX team has an enormous amount of compute and we think together we can scale up our model efforts and we're really excited about it. We really like their team."

Founded in 2023, Cursor has emerged as one of the fastest-growing startups in the AI ecosystem, riding a surge in demand for tools that enhance developer productivity. Its AI assistant enables programmers to write, debug and refine code with unprecedented efficiency, positioning the company at the centre of what industry insiders describe as the "vibe coding" movement.

Cursor president Oskar Schulz highlighted the technological synergy underpinning the deal: "The SpaceX team 'has an enormous amount of compute and we think together we can scale up our model efforts and we're really excited about it,'" adding, "We really like their team."

Cursor's chief executive, Michael Truell, confirmed the partnership on X, writing that he is "excited to partner with the SpaceX team to scale up Composer" -- a reference to Cursor's proprietary AI model. "A meaningful step on our path to build the best place to code with AI," Truell added.

The Cursor agreement arrives less than a week before Musk is due in court in Northern California for a high-profile legal dispute with OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman -- whose company was among Cursor's earliest investors.

If executed, the acquisition would rank among the largest in the history of the AI sector, signalling that competition is shifting from incremental innovation to large-scale consolidation.

With Elon Musk preparing for a high-profile legal confrontation involving OpenAI leadership in Northern California, the stakes in the AI race appear higher than ever. The Cursor agreement suggests that SpaceX intends not merely to participate in that race, but to reshape its trajectory.