SpaceX to Buy Cursor Developer Anysphere for $60 Billion to Bolster Grok
Summary
- SpaceX said it will acquire Cursor for $60 billion to strengthen its position in the enterprise AI market.
- Despite the acquisition, SpaceX shares rose nearly 10%% in premarket trading and about 5%% during the session, leaving the stock up more than 50%% from its IPO price.
- Cursor has grown into a business with $2.6 billion in annual revenue, and the deal will be structured as a stock-for-stock merger, with no IPO proceeds expected to be used.
Forecast Trend Report by Period
SpaceX said June 16 it will acquire Anysphere, the software company behind AI coding agent Cursor, for $60 billion as it seeks to strengthen its position in the enterprise AI market.
The deal could help improve the standing of Grok, the AI model developed by xAI, the artificial intelligence company SpaceX merged with in February. Grok has trailed rivals in the coding market. Cursor could also help expand computing capacity for AI model development.
Big acquisitions tied to AI businesses, which often run at a loss, frequently pressure the buyer's stock. SpaceX shares defied that pattern, rising nearly 10% to $211.27 in premarket trading before trimming the gain to about 5% at $203 as of 9:10 a.m. Eastern time. The stock remains more than 50% above its IPO price of $135.
If the advance holds, SpaceX would overtake Amazon to become the world's fifth-largest company by market value.
Reuters and other media outlets reported June 16 that SpaceX said in April it had secured an option to buy the San Francisco-based maker of Cursor for $60 billion by the end of 2026, or pay $10 billion to enter a new partnership.
Cursor is one of the Silicon Valley startups, alongside OpenAI and Anthropic, that have attracted developers by using AI to automate coding. Founded in 2022, the company has grown rapidly. Its annual revenue has reached about $2.6 billion, while revenue from enterprise customers has surged.
The company has drawn investment from prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firms including Andreessen Horowitz and Thrive, as well as Nvidia and Alphabet. Alphabet and Cursor were reportedly in talks earlier this year on a fundraising round that would have valued the company at $50 billion.
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026. It will be structured as a stock-for-stock merger between Anysphere, Cursor's parent company, and X67, a wholly owned SpaceX subsidiary. Proceeds from SpaceX's IPO are not expected to be used for the deal.
Kim Jung-a, guest reporter, Hankyung.com, kja@hankyung.com
Korea Economic Daily
hankyung@bloomingbit.ioThe Korea Economic Daily Global is a digital media where latest news on Korean companies, industries, and financial markets.
