Cognition CEO Denies SpaceX Acquisition Attempt Following $60 Billion Cursor Deal
The creator of the Devin AI agent rejects reports of a buyout as SpaceX aggressively expands its AI coding portfolio.
SpaceX's aggressive push into the artificial intelligence sector hit a public wall this week as Cognition, the startup behind the AI agent Devin, denied reports that it was targeted for acquisition. The clash highlights the intensifying arms race for AI-assisted engineering tools as SpaceX attempts to pivot its valuation toward generative AI.
Bloomberg recently reported that SpaceX attempted to acquire Cognition to accelerate its internal AI capabilities. However, Cognition CEO Scott Wu took to X to explicitly refute the claim, stating the company is "not for sale and we haven’t been talking." This denial comes as Cognition is reportedly in early talks for a new funding round that would value the startup at $40 billion.
A Multi-Billion Dollar Pivot
The reported approach follows a massive spending spree by SpaceX. In mid-August 2026, SpaceX completed the acquisition of AI coding startup Cursor (Anysphere) for $60 billion. This move is part of a broader strategic shift for the aerospace giant, which went public in June 2026 under the ticker SPCX. Following its IPO, the company's market value reached approximately $2.1 trillion.
Elon Musk has been vocal about the company's trajectory, asserting that AI will represent 99% of SpaceX's total value within the next four to five years. By absorbing specialized coding tools, SpaceX is moving beyond rocket telemetry and into the high-value enterprise AI sector, where generative agents can automate complex engineering tasks.
The Battle for AI Engineering
The urgency behind these moves signals SpaceX's intent to compete directly with established AI powerhouses like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. The industry is currently seeing a surge in AI-assisted coding tools, such as Anthropic's Claude Code, which have demonstrated that monetizing high-end software engineering is one of the most viable paths for generative AI revenue.
By targeting companies like Cursor and Cognition, SpaceX is attempting to build a vertical stack of AI capabilities that can optimize its own massive engineering requirements while creating a commercial product for the wider enterprise market.
What Remains Unclear
While Scott Wu has denied any acquisition talks, the broader relationship between the two companies remains a point of interest. It is not yet confirmed whether the two entities are pursuing alternative collaborations or if the reported approach from SpaceX was a formal offer or an informal inquiry. For now, Cognition remains one of the few independent leaders in the AI coding space, standing firm against the gravitational pull of the trillion-dollar SpaceX ecosystem.