SpaceX and Cursor have explored collaborating with Mistral to compete against AI rivals

Elon Musk is ramping up his efforts to compete with AI giants Anthropic and OpenAI.

Musk’s AI startup xAI has been in talks with Mistral and AI programming startup Cursor in recent weeks about a possible three-way partnership, people familiar with the matter said. Mistral is a French AI startup founded in 2023 that has positioned itself as an independent alternative to US border laboratories.

SpaceX, which owns xAI, announced a deal with Cursor this week that gives SpaceX the option…