Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani-origin entrepreneur is at the center of a massive global tech deal, as SpaceX—owned by Elon Musk—considers acquiring a fast-growing AI startup for up to $60 billion.
The startup, Cursor, was co-founded by Saleh Asif along with partners under Anysphere.
According to reports, SpaceX has secured the option to buy the company later this year. If the acquisition does not materialize, the company will instead enter a collaboration agreement worth $10 billion.
Cursor is among a small group of leading AI firms—alongside OpenAI and Anthropic—focused on developing advanced AI-powered coding tools. The platform is already widely used by developers across more than 50,000 companies.
Hailing from Karachi, Saleh Asif later studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and represented Pakistan in the International Mathematical Olympiad between 2016 and 2018.
The company has experienced rapid growth, with annual revenue surpassing $1 billion and its valuation reaching $29.3 billion in late 2025 after raising $2.3 billion in funding.
The potential deal highlights growing collaboration between AI innovation and high-performance computing, with plans to integrate Cursor’s software expertise into SpaceX’s advanced systems.
