How four MIT dropouts turned a failed idea into a $60 billion AI giant

Four students in their twenties began with a side project that failed to take off as expected. They experimented with a range of ideas, from AI tools for mechanical engineers to other early-stage projects, before eventually making a major pivot.Within a few years, that pivot had transformed their startup into one of the fastest-growing companies in artificial intelligence.In August 2026, Cursor officially became part of SpaceX following a $60 billion acquisition, turning its four young co-founders into multi-billionaires, according to estimates published by Forbes.The founders—Michael Truell, Aman Sanger and Sualeh Asif, all 25, and 26-year-old Arvid Lunnemark—were students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before dropping out to build the company behind Cursor.The idea that failed before Cursor took offThe four founders started Anysphere, Cursor's parent company, in 2022.Their first idea was not the AI coding product that would eventually make them famous.