Elon Musk's SpaceX has agreed to acquire Cursor, the AI coding company, in an all-stock deal, according to The New York Times.
The Times reports that the structure of the transaction — paying with SpaceX shares rather than cash — illustrates the power of public markets. Shares in SpaceX have been on a tear, the Times says, giving Musk's rockets and artificial intelligence company the financial resources to pursue deals like this one.
According to the Times, that stock-fueled buying power could help SpaceX narrow the gap with leading AI firms Anthropic and OpenAI through acquisitions. In other words, a soaring share price becomes a kind of currency: when a company's stock is highly valued, it can buy other companies without spending cash, using its own shares as payment.
The report frames Cursor as part of a broader strategy in which SpaceX leans on its market strength to expand its footprint in artificial intelligence, rather than building every capability from scratch.
The Times does not detail a price, the terms of the share exchange, or how Cursor will operate inside SpaceX in the material provided here.
Why it matters: the deal signals that the race to lead in AI is increasingly being shaped not just by research breakthroughs but by financial firepower — and that a company's rising stock can be turned directly into a tool for catching up with rivals like Anthropic and OpenAI.