Sources: Microsoft considered buying Cursor in recent weeks but didn't make an offer; Microsoft has been working to boost GitHub Copilot's popularity

Prior to SpaceX's announcement this week that it's obtained the right to acquire Cursor for $60 billion, Microsoft looked at a potential deal …

CNBC 2026-04-23

Context & Ripple Effects

Cursor had already emerged as a fast-growing GitHub Copilot rival, moving from a $400M valuation in August 2024 to a reported $2.6B Series B valuation by December. That made it a consequential independent asset in AI-assisted software development.

SpaceX’s newly disclosed right to acquire Cursor put that independence in question just as Microsoft was trying to raise Copilot’s adoption through promotions. Microsoft’s review without an offer shows the competitive importance of Cursor without changing control of it.

First-order effects

Microsoft does not gain Cursor’s product, users, or development team, leaving GitHub Copilot to compete against the standalone rival while Microsoft continues its own adoption push.
Cursor remains tied to the SpaceX partnership and its potential $60B acquisition path rather than entering a Microsoft transaction process.

Second-order effects

GitHub Copilot and Cursor face a sharper product-and-distribution contest: Microsoft must make Copilot more compelling without removing a rival through acquisition, while Cursor can pursue its SpaceX-linked model-building collaboration.
The reported interest from Microsoft, alongside SpaceX’s acquisition right, raises the strategic value of leading AI coding products and makes their independence more consequential to prospective partners and buyers.

Third-order effects

If this pattern persists, AI coding tools may become strategic control points rather than simple developer-software features, with platform incumbents and companies outside traditional software competing for influence over them.
The outcome is not settled: Cursor’s eventual ownership and the terms of its SpaceX arrangement will determine whether the market remains centered on competing tools or shifts toward fewer, more tightly affiliated platforms.

The trend: AI coding assistants are evolving from fast-growing developer products into strategic assets that can reshape competition among major technology platforms and new industry entrants.

Discussion

NewsMax.com Glenn Chapman on x
SpaceX Gets $60B Option to Buy AI Startup Cursor
@edzitron.com Ed Zitron on bluesky
Ok this makes this headline 20000x funnier — bsky.app/profile/tech... [embedded post]
@blowdart.me Barry Dorrans on bluesky
Why would you pay for a fork of VS Code when you already have VS Code? [embedded post]
@marypcbuk Mary Branscombe on bluesky
Have to wonder if Cursor has been running around begging people to buy them generally so they can survive or specifically so they wouldn't get assimilated and borgified by Musk [embedded post]
@mntruell Michael Truell on x
Excited to partner with the SpaceX team to scale up Composer. A meaningful step on our path to build the best place to code with AI.
@starplatinum_ @starplatinum_ on x
Justin Sun vs WLFI - crypto billionaire, founder of TRON, early believer in the Trump narrative late 2024: invests $30M into World Liberty Financial - scales position to ~$75M - becomes one of the largest holders - publicly supports the project September 2025: sends ~$9M in [imag…
@beffjezos @beffjezos on x
Holy based alliance. Mistral cracked French model artisans, Cursor interface and agentic coding data, xAI Collossus compute. Elon assembling the based AI lab Avengers to take on the big 3. LFG
@dorialexander @dorialexander on x
So long for “EU sovereignty”
r/technology r on reddit
SpaceX says it can buy Cursor later this year for $60 billion or pay $10 billion for ‘our work together’
r/cursor r on reddit
SpaceX says it can buy Cursor later this year for $60 billion or pay $10 billion for ‘our work together’
@spacex @spacex on x
SpaceXAI and @cursor_ai are now working closely together to create the world's best coding and knowledge work AI. The combination of Cursor's leading product and distribution to expert software engineers with SpaceX's million H100 equivalent Colossus training supercomputer will …
r/spacex r on reddit
SpaceX to acquire AI company Cursor for $60 billion or pay $10 billion for their “work together”
Jordan Novet Jordan Novet on linkedin
Today Kate Rooney and I reported that SpaceX wasn't the only company that considered a deal with Cursor, an AI coding startup. …
Kate Rooney Kate Rooney on linkedin
SpaceX wasn't the only one interested in buying AI startup Cursor... Microsoft also looked at buying the coding company before Elon Musk's $60 billion deal, according sources. …
Mansoor Ahmad Mansoor Ahmad on linkedin
SpaceX's option to acquire Cursor for $60B is not a deal. It is a declaration of where the next AI war is being fought. …
@justinhendrix Justin Hendrix on bluesky
“SpaceX said it secured the right to buy artificial-intelligence coding startup Cursor for $60 billion.”
@stockmktnewz Evan on x
Andreessen Horowitz would reportedly make $6 Billion if SpaceX buys Cursor for $60B
@rmac Ryan Mac on bluesky
Tired: landing humans on Mars by 2026 — Wired: Orbital data centers! Self-sustaining moon colony! AI chip factory! $60B deals for AI companies! — In the last 6 months, Musk has completely changed the direction of SpaceX. He's hoping investors will go along for the ride: w…
r/accelerate r on reddit
SpaceX and Cursor have explored a team-up with Mistral to take on AI rivals

Chronicles