Elon Musk intercepted Anthropic's largest client ahead of its IPO: how the deal with Cursor reshapes the balance of power in the AI market
Elon Musk's purchase of Anysphere, the developer of the popular AI coding tool Cursor, for $60 billion in SpaceX stock is not just another major tech industry deal. It is a well-calculated strategic strike that landed precisely at the moment when Anthropic was preparing for its long-awaited IPO. And the consequences of this move could be far more serious than they appear at first glance.
The crux of the matter is that Cursor has long been one of the key external monetization channels for Anthropic's Claude model. Every developer using Cursor to write code was, in essence, becoming a paying customer of Anthropic "under the hood." The tool, especially its flagship Composer feature, gained immense popularity in Silicon Valley and among engineering teams from the Fortune 500. It was precisely from the combination of Cursor and Claude that the term "vibe coding" was born — an approach where a programmer describes a task in words, and the AI writes the code.
The connection was not only technological but also financial. Anthropic's corporate revenue surged in 2025 largely because Cursor became one of the largest paid channels for using Claude. Every Cursor user was an anonymous, but paying, customer of Anthropic.
How Musk "Printed" $60 Billion in a Few Days
The most interesting part is the deal's mechanism. Not a single dollar in cash changed hands. The entire $60 billion was paid for with SpaceX shares. The scheme was implemented through an SEC Form 8-K, and Musk himself exercised an option signed back in April. SpaceX shares went public on June 12 at a price of $135 each, and by Tuesday were trading above $211. Musk used just a few days of stock market frenzy to "print" $60 billion in fresh capital in the form of shares and immediately spend them on a pre-agreed purchase. SpaceX investors, meanwhile, faced dilution of approximately 3.4% — their stake decreased due to the issuance of new shares. The SpaceX IPO essentially became the "printing press" for this acquisition.
A Blow to Anthropic Right Before Its IPO
According to data from the service Ramp, Cursor's share among corporate clients was declining: from 41% in June 2025 to 26% in May 2026, losing ground to GitHub Copilot and Amazon Q. Investors Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive, and Nvidia were preparing to invest in Cursor at a valuation of $50 billion, considering it aggressive. Musk paid 20% more — for a company losing ground in the race.
Why would Musk do this? His own AI division, xAI, was experiencing serious difficulties. By the end of March 2026, all 11 of its co-founders had left the company, and Musk himself admitted that xAI was "built incorrectly from the start." For SpaceX to have a compelling AI story before going public, the easiest path was to buy a brand that engineers already trust.
The entire chain looks like this: SpaceX goes public to obtain "currency" — expensive shares. Musk uses them to buy Cursor, which was losing its leadership position, and at a premium. And Cursor was the largest corporate channel through which companies paid for Claude. The deal came precisely in the window between Anthropic filing its IPO application and setting the offering price.
My analysis: This is a classic example of "financial guerrilla warfare" from Musk. He didn't just buy an asset; he struck a blow against Anthropic's key revenue source at its most vulnerable moment. If Anthropic cannot quickly convince Wall Street that the lost revenue from Cursor can be replaced, one of the most anticipated AI IPOs this year could face serious jeopardy. The market should already be pricing this risk into the company's valuation.