SpaceX Strikes $60 Billion Option Deal With Cursor To Develop Coding AI

SpaceX said it has struck a deal with Cursor to develop a next-generation “coding and knowledge work AI,” and the arrangement includes a provision that gives SpaceX an option to buy Cursor for $60 billion later this year.

“The announcement comes at a time when SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, is reportedly preparing for a massive initial public offering (IPO), which could be one of the largest in history”

CNBC TV18

TechCrunch reports that SpaceX described the partnership as combining Cursor’s “product and distribution to expert software engineers” with SpaceX’s Colossus supercomputer, which the company claims has the equivalent compute power of a million Nvidia H100 chips.

CNBC TV18

CNBC TV18 adds that SpaceX wrote on X that “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.”

In the same social media statement, SpaceX said Cursor “has also given SpaceX the right to acquire Cursor later this year for $60 billion or pay $10 billion for our work together.”

Multiple outlets describe the deal as giving SpaceX two paths—either an acquisition option or a partnership payout—while Cursor and SpaceX work together on the coding AI effort.

TechCrunch also says SpaceX will either pay Cursor $10 billion for its work or acquire the company for $60 billion at some undisclosed point later this year, and it notes that the brief statement did not say if either deal could be paid in SpaceX stock.

The structure is central to how the deal is being interpreted as SpaceX positions itself for a public offering, with TechCrunch linking the Cursor engagement to “SpaceX’s much-anticipated public offering.”

The Cursor deal is being framed by outlets as part of a broader push to connect developer-focused AI tooling with SpaceX’s compute assets, particularly through Colossus and xAI.

TechCrunch says last week it was reported that xAI would begin renting computing power from its data centers to Cursor, with the coding startup using tens of thousands of xAI chips to train its latest AI model.

Crypto Briefing

It also says that last month, two of Cursor’s most senior engineering leaders, Andrew Milich and Jason Ginsberg, left the company to join xAI, where both report directly to Musk.

TechCrunch adds that SpaceX described the partnership as combining Cursor’s “product and distribution to expert software engineers” with SpaceX’s Colossus supercomputer, which it claims has the equivalent compute power of a million Nvidia H100 chips.

CNBC TV18 similarly quotes SpaceX’s X post about “SpaceX’s million H100 equivalent Colossus training supercomputer,” and it says SpaceXAI and @cursor_ai are now working closely together to create the world’s best coding and knowledge work AI.

CNBC TV18 also includes Cursor’s own explanation that “We've wanted to push our training efforts much further, but we've been bottlenecked by compute. With this partnership, our team will leverage xAI's Colossus infrastructure to dramatically scale up the intelligence of our models.”

The compute angle is also emphasized in other coverage, including TechCrunch’s note that neither Cursor nor xAI has proprietary models that can match the leading offerings from Anthropic and OpenAI, suggesting the partnership is intended to address that gap.

The sources connect the Cursor option to the company’s rapid valuation growth and to SpaceX’s timing as it prepares for a major IPO.

“Gotrade News - SpaceX has reportedly obtained the rights to acquire AI coding startup Cursor for approximately $60 billion later in 2026”

Gotrade

TechCrunch lays out Cursor’s valuation trajectory, saying it was valued at just $2.5 billion in January of last year, climbed to $9 billion by last May, and was assigned a $29.3 billion post-money valuation when it closed on $2.3 billion in Series D funding in November.

TechCrunch also says last week it was reported that Cursor was eyeing a $50 billion valuation in an upcoming private fundraising round, and it frames that as reflecting “an astonishing series of leaps.”

CNBC TV18 reports that the announcement comes as SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, is reportedly preparing for a massive initial public offering (IPO), and it says it remains unclear whether the Cursor deal will be finalised before or after the IPO, expected as early as June.

CNBC TV18 also states that SpaceX’s IPO timing could be tied to the New York Times report that the IPO is expected as early as June, and it quotes SpaceX’s X post dated April 21, 2026.

TradingView describes the arrangement as “a race against the calendar” and says SpaceX plans to launch its IPO roadshow the week of June 8 and host a major retail investor event on June 11, with a prospectus due in late May.

Across these accounts, the deal’s option structure and the stated $60 billion and $10 billion figures are repeatedly linked to the idea that SpaceX wants to lock in terms while it approaches public-market scrutiny.

The sources include direct statements from SpaceX and Cursor leadership that characterize the partnership as both technical and strategic.

CNBC TV18 quotes SpaceX’s post on X, saying “SpaceXAI and @cursor_ai are now working closely together to create the world’s best coding and knowledge work AI,” and it repeats SpaceX’s claim that the combination of Cursor’s distribution with SpaceX’s “million H100 equivalent Colossus training supercomputer” will allow SpaceX “to build the world’s most useful models.”

Tbreak Media

CNBC TV18 also quotes Cursor’s chief executive Michael Truell, who wrote: "Excited to partner with the SpaceX team to scale up Composer. A meaningful step on our path to build the best place to code with AI," and the same item includes the handle “— Michael Truell (@mntruell) April 21, 2026.”

In the same CNBC TV18 report, Cursor’s blog post frames the partnership as addressing a compute bottleneck, stating “We've wanted to push our training efforts much further, but we've been bottlenecked by compute. With this partnership, our team will leverage xAI's Colossus infrastructure to dramatically scale up the intelligence of our models.”

TechCrunch provides additional context by describing SpaceX’s partnership framing as a project combining Cursor’s “product and distribution to expert software engineers” with Colossus, and it notes that SpaceX said it will either pay Cursor $10 billion for its work or acquire the company for $60 billion later this year.

TechCrunch also notes that Cursor still uses and sells access to Claude and GPT models even as both firms roll out their own coding tools, describing the arrangement as “an awkward arrangement” that the SpaceX partnership may be designed to escape.

The sources portray the Cursor partnership as setting up a sequence of technical and financial decisions that could reshape SpaceX’s AI ambitions and Cursor’s competitive position.

“SpaceX tells investors Moon and Mars plans may not profit SpaceX just told investors that its big space plans, like building AI systems in orbit and settling humans on the Moon and Mars, might not make money anytime soon”

NewsBytes

TechCrunch says SpaceX described the partnership as a project combining Cursor’s “product and distribution to expert software engineers” with Colossus, and it adds that SpaceX said that “at some undisclosed point later this year, it will either pay Cursor $10 billion for its work or acquire the company for $60 billion.”

TechCrunch

CNBC TV18 similarly states that “Under the agreement, Cursor stands to gain either a substantial capital injection or a full acquisition,” and it ties this to SpaceX’s reported IPO preparation.

TradingView emphasizes the option’s timing, describing it as “a race against the calendar” and reiterating that SpaceX has the right to buy Cursor for $60 billion later this year, or pay $10 billion for the partnership if it walks away.

TechCrunch also highlights a competitive gap by stating that “Neither Cursor nor xAI has proprietary models that can match the leading offerings from Anthropic and OpenAI,” implying that the partnership is aimed at closing that gap even though the sources do not specify a model roadmap.

The sources also indicate that the deal could affect how Cursor’s product uses third-party models, since TechCrunch says Cursor still uses and sells access to Claude and GPT models even as both firms roll out their own coding tools.

In the sources’ depiction, what comes next is not only the technical integration of Cursor with Colossus and xAI compute, but also the later-year decision between paying $10 billion or exercising the $60 billion acquisition option.