Cognition CEO Disputes Allegations of SpaceX’s Acquisition Attempt for the Startup

As per a report from Bloomberg on Wednesday, Elon Musk’s SpaceX reportedly attempted to acquire the AI coding startup Cognition, aiming to enhance its competitiveness against rivals like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google in the AI field.

In response to the report, Cognition’s CEO, Scott Wu, took to X to challenge the claims, asserting that the information was incorrect and that Cognition “is not for sale,” further clarifying that no conversations had taken place between the two companies.

This news follows shortly after SpaceX finalized a $60 billion acquisition of another AI coding startup, Cursor, just last week.

Earlier this year, SpaceX also acquired Musk’s AI venture, xAI, which garnered attention with a successful IPO in June, achieving a peak market cap of nearly $2.3 trillion.

SpaceX has demonstrated its ambitions in the AI industry, including the intention to construct data centers in space. However, the xAI project is still in its preliminary phases and is trailing behind its competitors.

The company has encountered hurdles with its chatbot Grok, which has faced several controversies, including last year’s “MechaHitler” incident and this year’s issues regarding nonconsensual sexual imagery, while aiming to win enterprise clients.

Recently, Musk informed SpaceX staff that within “four or five years, AI will account for 99% of the value” of the firm, though achieving this objective will require a substantial increase in AI-driven revenue.

AI-assisted coding is becoming a vital channel for monetizing technology, with Anthropic’s swift growth, largely fueled by Claude Code, highlighting this trend. The Cursor acquisition aligns with this strategy, as the two firms had collaborated even before the deal’s completion. This month, Cursor and SpaceX debuted Grok 4.6, a new model performing exceptionally well in coding benchmarks and complex multi-step tasks.

Integrating Cognition, with its coding agent Devin and enterprise clients such as Mercedes-Benz, Citi, and Goldman Sachs, would have provided SpaceX with additional avenues to strengthen its foothold in AI coding and attract major customers.

Although Bloomberg indicates that discussions about the acquisition have ended, the two companies might still consider collaborative opportunities, including Cognition potentially leveraging SpaceX’s computing resources, which SpaceX is currently offering to other AI companies like Anthropic until the demand for its own needs arises. Wu did not comment on this particular claim in his response.

Cognition remains one of the largest independent AI coding startups not yet acquired by a prominent AI model developer. In late May, the company raised $1 billion in a funding round at a valuation of $25 billion and is reportedly in preliminary discussions for another financing round anticipated to be valued at $40 billion.

Cognition attracted attention last year when it acquired the remaining assets of competitor Windsurf, which was part of a $2.4 billion deal with Google DeepMind, leading to the acqui-hire of Windsurf’s CEO and top researchers.

Post-merger, Cognition laid off 30 employees and extended buyout offers to the remaining 200 Windsurf staff. Those who opted to stay faced demanding operational requirements, such as an 80-hour workweek and six days in the office.

This intense work culture resonates with Musk’s infamous reputation for long hours, as he has claimed to work up to 120 hours weekly and often sleeps on office or factory floors.

Neither SpaceX nor Cognition responded to queries for comments.