Cognition CEO denies report that SpaceX tried to acquire startup
Cognition's CEO has denied a Bloomberg report claiming that SpaceX previously attempted to acquire the AI coding startup.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Cognition CEO denies reports that SpaceX attempted to acquire the AI coding startup
- SpaceX recently closed its $60 billion acquisition of Cursor last week
- Cognition raised $1 billion and is in early talks for a new round at a $40 billion valuation
The chief executive of AI coding startup Cognition has pushed back against a media report from Bloomberg published Wednesday, which claimed that Elon Musk's SpaceX tried to acquire the company as part of its push to catch up with rivals like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, citing sources familiar with the matter.
This report surfaced just days after SpaceX completed its massive $60 billion acquisition of Cursor, another AI coding startup, which closed last week. SpaceX also absorbed Musk's AI venture, xAI, earlier this year before going public in a blockbuster IPO in June that drove its market capitalization to nearly $2.3 trillion at its peak.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
SpaceX has pitched its AI ambitions to investors, which notably include plans to eventually construct data centers in space. Yet, the xAI division remains in its early stages and has lagged behind competitors, while also managing controversies surrounding its chatbot Grok, such as last year's "MechaHitler" incident and nonconsensual sexual imagery scandals this year, as it courts enterprise clients.
Last week, Musk told employees that in roughly "four or five years, AI will be 99% of the value" of the company, though achieving that milestone requires generating significantly higher AI revenue. AI-assisted coding has emerged as a premier monetization path, proven by Anthropic's rapid expansion driven heavily by Claude Code.
The aggressive consolidation in the AI coding sector highlights how automated programming tools have transitioned from developer utilities into vital commercial assets for capturing enterprise revenue. This strategic shift explains why rumors of high-profile acquisition targets like Cognition command intense industry attention.
Acquiring Cognition, along with its coding agent Devin and an enterprise roster featuring Mercedes-Benz, Citi, and Goldman Sachs, would have bolstered SpaceX's enterprise AI strategy. According to Bloomberg, formal deal talks are no longer active, though the companies continue discussing potential infrastructure collaborations, such as Cognition utilizing SpaceX's computing capacity.
Source: TechCrunch
Found something wrong in this article? Report an issue with this article
Comments
Leave a Comment