Cognition CEO Denies SpaceX Tried to Buy the Startup

Following a Bloomberg report claiming that SpaceX attempted to buy Cognition to bolster its position against rivals like OpenAI and Google, Cognition CEO Scott Wu quickly disputed the news. Writing on X, Wu stated that the report was inaccurate, the two firms have not held talks, and Cognition "is not for sale." Bloomberg had reported that while active acquisition talks had ended, the companies were still discussing a partnership where Cognition would utilize SpaceX's computing capacity.

The acquisition rumor follows SpaceX's recent $60 billion purchase of Cursor, another AI coding startup. SpaceX, which also acquired Musk's xAI earlier this year and reached a peak market capitalization of nearly $2.3 trillion after its June IPO, is heavily prioritizing artificial intelligence. Musk recently told employees that AI would represent 99% of the company's value in four to five years. To that end, Cursor and SpaceX recently launched Grok 4.6, a model showing improved performance on coding and multi-step agentic benchmarks.

Cognition remains one of the few major independent AI coding startups. Known for its Devin coding agent, the company boasts high-profile enterprise clients including Citi, Goldman Sachs, and Mercedes-Benz. In late May, Cognition raised $1 billion at a $25 billion post-money valuation, and it is reportedly in early discussions for a new funding round at a $40 billion valuation. Last year, Cognition acquired the remaining assets of competitor Windsurf after Google DeepMind executed a $2.4 billion talent-and-licensing deal for Windsurf's leadership.

For developers and enterprise clients, Cognition's independence means its Devin agent remains platform-agnostic for now, avoiding integration into SpaceX's proprietary ecosystem. However, the startup's internal environment remains intense. Following the Windsurf merger, Cognition laid off 30 workers, offered buyouts to 200 others, and pushed remaining staff toward grueling 80-hour workweeks. This demanding culture mirrors Musk's own operational style, suggesting that even without a formal acquisition, the pressure on AI engineering talent across the industry continues to intensify as companies race to monetize automated coding.