An AI code editor from AI startup Anysphere has overtaken ChatGPT to change into the fastest-growing software program product, reaching $100 million in income in a yr with out spending a dime on advertising and marketing.
Anysphere’s AI coding assistant Cursor has skyrocketed in reputation amongst particular person builders since its launch final yr.
Cursor, which might end traces of code, spot errors, and generate complete code blocks for builders, grew to become the fastest-growing product to achieve $100 million in annual recurring income in January. It hit over a million customers final month and doubled its income by March, per a report earlier this week from Bloomberg.
The income largely comes from Anysphere’s 360,000 particular person subscribers, who pay $20 per 30 days for a professional account or $40 for a enterprise account. Anysphere President Oskar Schulz advised Bloomberg that the majority of Cursor’s income will be attributed to people who pay for it themselves, not from massive enterprises.
Cursor can also be out there to make use of totally free for as much as 2,000 code completions a month.
Although Cursor is not the one coding assistant available on the market, it has grown partially as a result of its acquainted interface. Customers are drawn to Cursor’s look, which is analogous to Microsoft’s fashionable code editor, Visible Studio Code. Over 73% of builders globally use Visible Studio Code.
Cursor’s AI options additionally faucet into a number of giant language fashions powering AI chatbots, like OpenAI’s GPT-4o, giving the AI assistant extra computational energy.
Whereas Anysphere has discovered paying prospects, it is unclear how a lot the startup is spending to energy its companies. In December, Anysphere raised $100 million in a Sequence B spherical at a valuation of $2.6 billion after elevating $60 million in a Sequence A spherical 4 months prior. The startup was reportedly in talks final month to boost lots of of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} extra at a near $10 billion valuation.
Different AI startups are struggling to shut the hole between spending and income. In line with a report final yr from The New York Instances, AI startup Anthropic, which raised $3.5 billion final month at a valuation of $61.5 billion, is spending $2 billion yearly however solely bringing in $150 million to $200 million in income. Stability AI, an AI picture firm, generated $60 million in income final yr towards $96 million in prices, per The Instances.
Software program builders at OpenAI, Shopify, and Perplexity AI use Cursor, per Anysphere investor Andreessen Horowitz.
Regardless of Cursor’s success, the AI assistant additionally has its drawbacks. One Cursor person discovered final month that the AI assistant stopped producing code for a racing recreation after about 800 traces and inspired them to determine it out themselves.
“I can’t generate code for you… it’s best to develop the logic your self,” Cursor AI wrote in an error message for the person. “Motive: Producing code for others can result in dependency and lowered studying alternatives.”
