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SAN FRANCISCO: SpaceX revealed a collaboration with Cursor, an AI coding startup co-founded by Pakistan-born Sualeh Asif. The partnership includes an option to acquire the company for $60 billion later this year.
This initiative by Elon Musk’s aerospace firm arrives as it moves toward a public listing and shortly after acquiring Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI.
Founded in 2022 and headquartered in San Francisco, Cursor specializes in AI tools for software development, focusing especially on enterprise applications.
“SpaceXAI and @cursor_ai are now collaborating closely to develop the world’s best AI for coding and knowledge work,” the company announced on X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday.
Blending Cursor’s software expertise with SpaceX’s “Colossus” supercomputer for AI training will help develop some of the most advanced models globally, it added.
The alliance comes at a time when AI firms are competing to become the go-to platforms for developers.
Cursor’s main rivals include Microsoft’s GitHub and OpenAI, which recently announced its Codex tool now serves four million users weekly, up from three million just weeks ago.
Meanwhile, Anthropic reports a surge in revenue from its Claude Code service for developers.
Sualeh Asif, originally from Karachi, attended Nixor College before studying at MIT and represented Pakistan in the International Math Olympiad from 2016 to 2018.
He co-founded Anysphere, creator of Cursor, alongside three friends from MIT. The startup now generates over $1 billion in annualized revenue, making it one of the fastest-growing AI ventures, according to Forbes.
AI Launches into Space
Musk announced in February that SpaceX would acquire xAI, part of his plan to deploy solar-powered satellite data centers for future AI models.
SpaceX has led in the launch industry with reusable rockets that dramatically lower costs and owns the largest satellite network, Starlink.
An IPO could occur this year, with estimates suggesting it could be the largest in history, possibly as early as June. Media reports speculate a valuation surpassing $75 billion, positioning SpaceX among the top ten globally by market cap, potentially exceeding $1.75 trillion.
Musk described the acquisition of xAI as “not just the next chapter, but the next book” for SpaceX and Musk’s other companies.
He explained that global energy demand for AI cannot be met through ground-based solutions alone — the logical step is to relocate resource-intensive AI infrastructure to locations with abundant power and space.
This aligns with Musk’s long-term vision of establishing colonies on the Moon and Mars and is considered a preliminary move toward becoming a Kardashev Type II civilization, which harnesses all the energy of its star, a concept from 1960s Soviet astronomy.
Early this year, SpaceX submitted documents to US regulators for what could be the biggest IPO ever, with sources telling AFP that the firm aims to list its shares by July.
Valuations for the IPO could reach $75 billion or higher, reflecting SpaceX’s ambitious goals. If successful, its market value might top $1.75 trillion, making it one of the largest companies worldwide. Other tech giants like OpenAI and Anthropic are also reportedly planning offerings this year.
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