Did Musk's SpaceX try to acquire Cognition?
What's the story
Cognition, an AI coding start-up, has denied rumors of a potential acquisition by Elon Musk's SpaceX. The denial came from Cognition's CEO Scott Wu after Bloomberg reported on the matter. Wu took to X to clarify that the company is not for sale and that there have been no talks between the two firms.
Acquisition spree
SpaceX has been on an acquisition spree
The denial comes just days after SpaceX's $60 billion acquisition of another AI coding start-up, Cursor.
Earlier this year, SpaceX had also acquired Musk's own AI company xAI. The move was part of its strategy to compete with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google in the race for artificial intelligence supremacy.
Future plans
Musk's vision for AI at SpaceX
Musk has been vocal about his vision for AI at SpaceX, telling employees that in four or five years, "AI will be 99% of the value" of the company.
However, to achieve this goal, SpaceX needs to generate significantly more revenue from its AI ventures.
AI-assisted coding has emerged as a lucrative monetization avenue for this technology.
Business expansion
Cognition raised $1 billion in May
Cognition is one of the largest independent AI software coding start-ups not yet acquired by a major AI model maker.
The company raised $1 billion in May at a post-money valuation of $25 billion and is now reportedly in early talks for another funding round at a $40 billion valuation.
While the acquisition talks have fizzled out, Bloomberg reports that both companies are still discussing potential collaboration opportunities.
Twitter Post
Here's what Musk said about acquiring Cognition
What Scott says is accurate.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 19, 2026
We haven’t talked with Cognition about anything except making sure Grok works well for their needs.