SpaceX has completed its acquisition of Anysphere, the company behind the AI coding tool Cursor, in an all-stock deal worth $60 billion. The deal closed on August 14, 2026, confirmed through an SEC filing. It is widely described as the largest acquisition of a startup ever recorded.
Cursor now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary inside a new SpaceXAI division. To fund the purchase, SpaceX issued roughly 391 million of its Class A shares. For a company that was privately valued at $29.3 billion just nine months earlier, the $60 billion price is a striking jump.
The deal at a glance
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Buyer | SpaceX |
| Target | Anysphere, maker of Cursor |
| Value | $60 billion, all stock |
| Status | Closed August 14, 2026 |
| Structure | ~391 million SpaceX shares issued |
| Cursor’s prior valuation | $29.3 billion (November 2025) |
| Now | Wholly owned SpaceXAI subsidiary |
What Cursor is
Cursor is an AI code editor. It helps developers write, change, and ship software with AI built into the workflow. Founded in 2022, it grew faster than almost any software company before it, reaching around $4 billion in annualized revenue in under four years, with roughly $2.6 billion of that from enterprise customers.
That growth made Cursor one of the most valuable AI companies of any kind. At $60 billion, SpaceX paid about 15 times revenue, one of the largest multiples ever paid for an AI software company.
How the deal came together
The deal did not happen overnight. In April 2026, SpaceX secured an option to either buy Anysphere for $60 billion or walk away for a combined fee of about $10 billion. It exercised that option on June 16, just days after SpaceX went public in a record IPO. The transaction cleared regulatory review and closed on August 14.
Cursor had other suitors. It turned down two approaches from OpenAI, and Microsoft looked at a bid before deciding against it. The company had wanted to stay independent, until the SpaceX offer changed the math.
Why it matters
This is a landmark moment for AI coding, and for AI acquisitions in general. It sets a new record for the largest startup exit and shows how much strategic buyers will pay to own a leading coding agent.
For SpaceX, Cursor is a push deeper into AI software. Cursor gains access to SpaceX’s Colossus supercomputer, and its team is now working on Grok-branded products alongside SpaceX’s AI efforts. One knock-on effect is already clear. OpenAI is set to cut Cursor’s access to its models on November 12, which gives enterprise users a window to plan around the change.
The deal also reframes the debate about AI valuations. Cursor did not raise at $60 billion, it was bought at that price by a strategic acquirer. That is a different signal from a venture round, and it shows how corporate money is setting the top of this market. For more on that, see our analysis of whether AI agent valuations are a bubble.
Frequently asked questions
SpaceX acquired Anysphere, the maker of Cursor, for $60 billion in an all-stock deal that closed on August 14, 2026. It is the largest startup acquisition on record.
No. Cursor is now a wholly owned subsidiary of SpaceX, operating inside a new division called SpaceXAI.
Cursor was privately valued at $29.3 billion in November 2025. The $60 billion acquisition price is more than double that figure.
SpaceX bought Cursor to move deeper into AI software and compete with rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic. Cursor gains access to SpaceX’s Colossus supercomputer and is working on Grok-branded products.
Cursor reached roughly $4 billion in annualized revenue in under four years, with about $2.6 billion coming from enterprise customers.