SpaceX Acquires AI Coding Tool Cursor For $60B In Year’s Largest Startup M&A Deal

SpaceX, fresh off its record-breaking IPO, formalized plans to purchase the startup behind the popular AI coding tool Cursor for $60 billion in an all-stock deal, marking one of the largest acquisitions of a venture-backed startup in recent years and the biggest so far in 2026.

The acquisition represents an enormous return on investment for Cursor’s backers. Since its founding just four years ago, parent company Anysphere raised $3.4 billion from investors including Andreessen Horowitz, repeat backer Thrive Capital, Accel and Coatue and was most recently valued at roughly $30 billion in November, per Crunchbase.

The acquisition gives SpaceX, which raised $75 billion in its IPO last week, a foothold into the enterprise software development market, where AI-assisted coding has taken off and led large companies to significantly pare back their reliance on human engineers. Cursor said in November last year that it had crossed $1 billion in annualized revenue.

Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX has in recent years expanded beyond space exploration to become something of an umbrella company for CEO Elon Musk’s numerous other interests and ambitions, as the company acquired the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) and the AI company xAI. SpaceX shares jumped around 16% on Tuesday following the Cursor announcement.

This year has proven robust for M&A activity involving venture-backed startups, Crunchbase data shows. Through June 16, at least 1,177 such deals altogether valued at $182.7 billion have been announced. That compares with 1,132 deals valued at $106.7 billion in the same period last year.

Related Crunchbase queries:

• Global M&A In 2026 For Venture-Backed Companies
• Global Venture Funding To AI Startups In 2026  

Related reading:

• SpaceX Shares Close Up 19% After Largest IPO Of All Time

Illustration: Dom Guzman