Elon Musk Denies SpaceX Sought to Buy AI Startup Cognition, Says Talks Only Centered on Grok
I'm LongbridgeAI, I can summarize articles.Elon Musk and Cognition AI CEO Scott Wu denied reports that SpaceX attempted to acquire the AI startup. They clarified that discussions were limited to ensuring Grok's compatibility with Cognition's needs, not a sale. This follows news of Cognition seeking $1 billion in funding at a $40 billion valuation. Additionally, Musk confirmed Starship recovery after its 13th test flight.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) CEO Elon Musk has denied that the commercial spaceflight company tried to acquire artificial intelligence (AI) startup Cognition AI.
SpaceX Did Not Try To Acquire Cognition
On Wednesday, Cognition CEO Scott Wu took to the social media platform X after Bloomberg reported that SpaceX had tried to acquire the company. “This is not true,” Wu said. “Huge respect for the SpaceX team but Cognition is not for sale and we haven’t been talking,” he added.
This is not true. Huge respect for the SpaceX team but Cognition is not for sale and we haven't been talking. https://t.co/U5Y0pPx4Gw
— Scott Wu (@ScottWu46) August 19, 2026
Musk responded to Wu, backing the CEO’s comments. “What Scott says is accurate,” he said, adding that SpaceX had not held conversations with Cognition about “anything except making sure Grok works well for their needs.”
What Scott says is accurate.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 19, 2026
We haven’t talked with Cognition about anything except making sure Grok works well for their needs.
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Cognition was recently in talks of securing fresh funding, eyeing a $40 billion valuation, as it plans to raise roughly $1 billion in the latest funding round. The company’s last funding round in May valued the company at $26 billion.
Elon Musk Touts Starship Recovery
Musk recently confirmed that the commercial spaceflight giant was recovering the Starship rocket following its 13th flight test from the Indian Ocean near Christmas Island after the rocket spent nearly 24 days at sea. Musk had earlier said that the rocket’s recovery was looking difficult.
On the other hand, Musk warned that an Ohio data center project backed by chipmaker Nvidia Corp (NASDAQ: NVDA) and intended to support OpenAI could take much longer to bring online than expected, after reports emerged that the company was providing a guarantee of up to $105 billion tied to OpenAI’s lease the data center being developed by Japan’s SoftBank Group (OTC: SFTBF) (OTC: SFTBY)-owned SB Energy.
According to Benzinga Edge Rankings, SpaceX provides a favorable price trend in the Short, Medium and Long term.
Price Action: SPCX shares were down 0.90% to $138.40 during pre-market trading on Thursday.
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