Blow Before IPO: How Musk Took a Key Client from Anthropic Through a Deal with Cursor
Elon Musk pulled off one of the boldest deals of the year, acquiring Anysphere — the developer of the popular AI coding tool Cursor — for $60 billion. The payment was made not in cash, but in SpaceX shares, and this was not just a corporate acquisition, but a strategic blow to one of Anthropic's main revenue sources as it prepares for its IPO.
Why Cursor Was So Important to Anthropic
Cursor is not just another AI assistant for programmers. It ran on Anthropic's Claude model, and in effect, every engineer using this platform was a paying customer of Anthropic "under the hood." It was thanks to Claude that the flagship Composer feature became one of the most beloved AI products in Silicon Valley. This led to Anthropic's corporate revenue skyrocketing in 2025, with Cursor becoming one of the largest external monetization channels for Claude. Not only startups, but a significant portion of the Fortune 500 use this tool.
The most interesting part is how the deal actually went down. According to the data I analyzed, not a single dollar in cash was involved in this acquisition. All $60 billion was paid in SpaceX shares. Musk used the SpaceX IPO as a "money printer": shares first went public at $135, but by Tuesday were trading above $211. This surge allowed him to "print" new capital and immediately spend it on the pre-agreed purchase of Cursor. SpaceX investors faced dilution of about 3.4% — their stake decreased due to the issuance of new shares.
The Connection to Anthropic's IPO: Coincidence or a Planned Attack?
The connection of this deal to Anthropic's IPO is not just a coincidence. Cursor was one of the largest channels through which corporate clients paid for Claude. Now that channel is lost. According to data from the service Ramp, Cursor's share among corporate clients of AI coding tools is already declining — from 41% in June 2025 to 26% in May 2026, losing ground to GitHub Copilot and Amazon Q. And although investors like Andreessen Horowitz and Nvidia were ready to invest in Cursor at a $50 billion valuation, Musk paid 20% more for a company that is, in essence, losing its leadership in the race.
My expertise suggests: this was not just a business move. Musk, facing serious problems in his AI division xAI (by the end of March 2026, all 11 co-founders had left the company, and Musk himself admitted that xAI was "built incorrectly from the start"), decided to buy a ready-made brand that engineers already trust. The acquisition of Cursor is not only a blow to Anthropic but also an attempt to salvage his own AI strategy in the face of growing competition.
My professional conclusion: This deal puts Anthropic in a difficult position right before its IPO. If the company cannot quickly convince Wall Street that the lost revenue from Cursor can be replaced, one of the most anticipated offerings in the AI sector could be under serious threat. The market is now closely watching how Anthropic will compensate for this loss.