Musk Denies SpaceX Bid to Acquire AI Startup Cognition, Says Talks Only Involved Grok

Space Exploration Technologies CEO Elon Musk denied that the commercial space company attempted to acquire artificial intelligence startup Cognition AI.

SpaceX Did Not Attempt to Acquire Cognition

On Wednesday, Cognition CEO Scott Wu posted on social media platform X in response to a Bloomberg report that SpaceX had tried to acquire the company. "That is not true," Wu said. "I have great respect for the SpaceX team, but Cognition is not for sale, and we have not been in negotiations," he added.

That is not true. I have great respect for the SpaceX team, but Cognition is not for sale, and we have not been in negotiations.

— Scott Wu August 19, 2026

Musk responded to Wu, backing the CEO's remarks. "Scott is accurate," he said, adding that SpaceX had not spoken with Cognition about "anything other than making sure Grok serves their needs well."

Scott is accurate.

We have not spoken with Cognition about anything other than making sure Grok serves their needs well.

— Elon Musk August 19, 2026

Cognition is recently in funding talks targeting a valuation of $40 billion, planning to raise about $1 billion in its latest funding round. The company's previous round was conducted in May at a valuation of $26 billion.

Musk Praises Starship Recovery

Musk recently confirmed that the commercial space giant is recovering the Starship rocket, which was retrieved from the Indian Ocean near Christmas Island after its 13th flight test, with the rocket having floated at sea for nearly 24 days. Musk had previously said the rocket's recovery looked difficult.

On the other hand, Musk warned that a data center project in Ohio, backed by chipmaker Nvidia Corp. and aimed at supporting OpenAI, may take longer than expected to come online, following reports that the company provided guarantees of up to $105 billion related to OpenAI's lease of data centers developed by SB Energy, a unit of Japan's SoftBank Group. Edge Rankings shows SpaceX offering favorable price trends over the short, medium, and long term.

Price action: SPCX shares fell 0.90% to $138.40 in Thursday pre-market trading.