xAI has asked its employees, via an internal directive, to limit contact with employees of AI coding assistant Cursor as much as possible. The directive, sent by General Counsel James Burnham, states that interactions with Cursor staff may be limited solely to the implementation of a previously announced technical collaboration.
Bloomberg has learned this. The directive was circulated internally last week and was made public via anonymous sources familiar with the matter. The news comes weeks after it was reported that xAI is considering a potential acquisition of Cursor.
Burnham stated in the communication that contact with Cursor staff must not go beyond what is necessary for the implementation of the technical collaboration the two companies announced last month.
The two companies announced a partnership last month in the field of AI-driven software development. That partnership now serves as the official framework to which xAI employees are bound. Contact with Cursor employees may only take place to the extent that it serves the implementation of that partnership, according to Burnham.
Background: acquisition not yet final
Earlier this year, SpaceX officially acquired xAI in a deal that valued SpaceX at approximately $1 trillion and xAI at $250 billion. Subsequently, the combined company entered into an agreement with Cursor under which SpaceX can choose later this year between a full acquisition for approximately $60 billion or a payment of $10 billion for joint AI development.
Cursor was founded in 2022 and now has annual revenue exceeding $1 billion. Despite the deal, Cursor is trying to maintain some distance from xAI, as The Information previously reported. A definitive acquisition has therefore not yet been finalized.