Cognition CEO Refutes Allegations of SpaceX’s Efforts to Acquire the Startup

A report from Bloomberg on Wednesday indicates that Elon Musk’s SpaceX has made an overture to acquire the AI coding startup Cognition, aiming to enhance its competitive edge against rivals such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google in the artificial intelligence landscape.

In response to the report, Cognition’s CEO, Scott Wu, took to X to refute these claims, stating that the information was misleading and that Cognition “is not for sale,” further clarifying that no negotiations had taken place between the two firms.

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

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

SpaceX has demonstrated its ambitions in the AI field, having plans to construct data centers in space. However, the xAI initiative remains in its infancy and is currently trailing behind its competitors.

The company has encountered challenges with its chatbot Grok, which has been embroiled in several controversies, including last year’s “MechaHitler” incident and this year’s issues surrounding nonconsensual sexual imagery, all while working to attract enterprise clients.

Recently, Musk informed SpaceX staff that in “four or five years, AI will represent 99% of the value” of the company, although reaching this objective will require a significant increase in AI-driven revenues.

AI-assisted coding is becoming an essential path for technology monetization, with Anthropic’s rapid expansion, largely fueled by Claude Code, highlighting this trend. The acquisition of Cursor aligns with this strategy, as both companies had been collaborating prior to the completion of the deal. This month, Cursor and SpaceX unveiled Grok 4.6, a new model that excels in coding benchmarks and complex multi-step tasks.

Integrating Cognition, which has its coding agent Devin and notable enterprise clients such as Mercedes-Benz, Citi, and Goldman Sachs, would have provided SpaceX with more opportunities to reinforce its stance in AI coding and attract significant clientele.

While Bloomberg suggests that discussions regarding the acquisition have ended, the two companies may still consider collaborative ventures, such as Cognition potentially utilizing SpaceX’s computing resources, which SpaceX is currently providing to other AI firms like Anthropic until its own demands increase. Wu did not address this particular assertion in his response.

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

Cognition attracted attention last year when it purchased the remaining assets of rival Windsurf in a $2.4 billion deal with Google DeepMind, resulting in the acqui-hire of Windsurf’s CEO and leading researchers.

Post-merger, Cognition laid off 30 employees and offered buyout packages to the remaining 200 Windsurf staff. Those who opted to stay faced strict operational expectations, including an 80-hour workweek and six days in the office.

This intense work culture reflects Musk’s well-known reputation for long working hours, as he has claimed to work up to 120 hours a week and often sleeps at work or factory sites.

Neither SpaceX nor Cognition responded to requests for comments.