SpaceX, the company led by Elon Musk, has announced an agreement to acquire Cursor, the maker of a popular AI coding tool. The deal is valued at $60 billion (about 9.6 trillion yen) and is structured as an all-stock transaction paid entirely in SpaceX shares. Announced on June 16 (U.S. time), it is described as the largest acquisition of a venture-backed startup on record. Coming right after SpaceX's Nasdaq debut, the deal is drawing attention as a move that could rapidly expand Musk's AI ambitions.

A $60 Billion All-Stock Deal, One of the Largest on Record

On June 16 (U.S. time), SpaceX said it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Cursor. Payment will be made in roughly $60 billion worth of SpaceX Class A common stock, with no cash involved. That represents about a 3.4 percent dilution against the company's IPO valuation. It is reportedly the largest acquisition of a venture-backed startup on record, with closing expected in the third quarter of 2026. The deal must clear customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, which SpaceX noted in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

This did not come out of nowhere. Back in April 2026, SpaceX had already secured the right to acquire Cursor for $60 billion within the year. The terms even specified that if the deal fell through, SpaceX would owe Cursor a $1.5 billion (about 240 billion yen) termination fee plus $8.5 billion (about 1.36 trillion yen) worth of computing resources. SpaceX has now exercised that right and moved to a definitive agreement.

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What Is Cursor?

Cursor is an AI coding tool developed by Anysphere, a San Francisco-based startup. It is one of the best-known "agent-style" tools (AI that autonomously carries out multiple steps based on instructions), helping software developers generate, edit, and review code on their behalf. The company has grown rapidly since it was founded in 2022.

That momentum shows in the numbers. In November 2025, Cursor said its annual recurring revenue (ARR) had surpassed $1 billion (about 160 billion yen). It also ranked 37th on CNBC's 2026 "Disruptor 50" list of startups. Cursor's in-house AI model is called Composer, and its development is expected to continue after the acquisition.

SpaceX's Aim and Its Ties to xAI

The acquisition points to Musk shoring up the foundations of his AI business. Earlier in 2026, Musk merged SpaceX with his AI company xAI, and the Cursor purchase is positioned as a step toward competing with Anthropic and OpenAI, which lead in coding AI. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), SpaceX said it looks forward to working closely with the Cursor team to advance its frontier AI capabilities. The two companies are also reported to have been jointly training an AI model that will be released soon.

Behind the move are the financial firepower and share-price momentum gained from going public. SpaceX had just listed on the Nasdaq in what is described as the largest IPO ever, pushing its valuation past $2 trillion (about 320 trillion yen). On the Tuesday the deal was announced, its shares rose roughly 16 percent, surpassing Amazon and Microsoft by market capitalization to become the fourth most valuable company in the United States. Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's President and COO, told CNBC that the partnership "makes a huge amount of sense."

Any Blind Spots? Competition and Regulation Remain

That said, it is not all good news. Cursor faces questions over slipping market share in the coding AI space. According to spending data from Ramp, Cursor's share shrank from 41 percent in June 2025 to about 26 percent in May 2026, with Anthropic now holding roughly half of the category. Whether Cursor, now armed with capital and computing resources, can regain momentum remains to be seen.

Regulatory review also lies ahead. On top of that, venture capital firm Thrive Capital holds stakes in both SpaceX and Cursor, and its combined position is reportedly now worth more than $10 billion (about 1.6 trillion yen). How the massive stock swap and these tangled capital ties are viewed during the review process is worth watching. At the time the option was secured, Cursor CEO Michael Truell said he was excited to partner with the SpaceX team to scale up Composer, calling it a meaningful step on the path to building the best place to code with AI.

Summary

SpaceX's acquisition of Cursor is a symbolic deal that marks a rocket company's full-scale entry into the frontier of AI software. Beyond the sheer scale of an all-stock deal that ranks among the largest on record, the move makes clear, against the backdrop of the xAI merger, that SpaceX is chasing Anthropic and OpenAI in coding AI. At the same time, challenges remain, including Cursor's declining share, regulatory review, and complex capital relationships. How far the jointly developed new model can reshape the competitive landscape, and the steps toward closing the deal within the year, are well worth watching.