SpaceX Emerges as Anthropic Rival After $60 Billion AI Deal

SpaceX has rapidly transformed its artificial intelligence (AI) business in just six months, according to Oppenheimer analyst Timothy Horan. The company's AI platform, which includes large language models such as Grok, was initially seen as struggling. However, the recent $60 billion Cursor acquisition and expansion of compute infrastructure have propelled SpaceX into a credible rival of Anthropic.

Horan praised Cursor as 'an absolute game changer' for SpaceX's AI business. He noted that the agentic coding activity of Cursor provides valuable data on what works and what doesn't, helping to improve Grok and other applications. The analyst also predicted that SpaceX could reach $120 billion to $130 billion in revenue next year, with 70% tied to AI.

SpaceX is already leasing substantial compute capacity to Anthropic and Google's parent company Alphabet Inc. The company's vertical integration of its AI platform, combining proprietary data, capital, Nvidia GPUs, and rapid infrastructure deployment, has given it a competitive edge. As a result, Oppenheimer raised its price target for SpaceX stock to $280 from $250, implying nearly 99% upside.