OpenAI announced late Friday that it is ending developers’ access to its models on Cursor following the $60 billion acquisition of the AI coding startup by Elon Musk’s SpaceX earlier this month, according to financial filings cited in CNBC.
OpenAI Moves to End Cursor Model Access After SpaceX Acquisition
The proposed shutoff date for OpenAI models via Cursor is Nov. 12, 2026. OpenAI stated that it would not provide future models to Cursor as it winds down the agreement. According to OpenAI, the decision was made because the company cannot be confident that SpaceX will use its technology within its terms of service, citing prior experiences with Elon Musk’s companies violating contracts.
Cursor CEO Michael Truell said in a post on the SpaceX-owned social network X that OpenAI models serve about 5% of Cursor user traffic, adding that the company was speaking with the OpenAI team to resolve the issue. Truell noted that Cursor was one of the earliest users of OpenAI and trusted its platform as neutral infrastructure.
Contractual Concerns and Corporate History
OpenAI pointed to specific past incidents involving companies led by Musk. The organization stated that after Musk acquired Twitter—now part of SpaceX—the company broke the terms of an OpenAI contract. Furthermore, OpenAI noted that Musk admitted under oath earlier this year that xAI, which is also part of SpaceX, had violated OpenAI’s terms of service.
According to OpenAI, its custom agreement with Cursor included a limited time window to cancel following a change of control. The company stated it chose the latest possible termination date while withholding future models to maximize the time developers can retain access.
SpaceX completed the acquisition of Anysphere, the startup behind Cursor, in mid-August following a deal reached in June. Before SpaceX went public in June, it had acquired Musk’s X and xAI in February.
Broader Feud Between Musk and OpenAI Leadership
The move marks the latest escalation in a long-running dispute between Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman. Musk co-founded OpenAI as a non-profit research lab in 2015, left its board in 2018 after clashes over direction and hiring, and later became a prominent critic.
In 2024, Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, Altman, and Brockman, arguing that the company’s restructuring into a for-profit entity with a non-profit parent violated its founding commitments and amounted to stealing a charity.
OpenAI disputed these claims. A federal jury ruled against Musk earlier this year, finding he waited too long to file, though Musk vowed to appeal.
Following the announcement regarding Cursor, Musk wrote on X that he couldn't care less,
described Altman and Brockman using an expletive, and repeated his claim that they stole an open source nonprofit, as reported by Mashable.
Impact on Developers and Industry Reactions
The termination of the agreement leaves developers using Cursor looking toward alternative models. According to DEV, users can still add their own OpenAI API key to send requests through a personal account at standard API rates, or connect models through compatible third-party services.
Meanwhile, rival AI firm Anthropic has moved to support Cursor. Anthropic co-founder and executive Tom Brown stated on X that the company will continue to increase compute to support Claude models in Cursor. Anthropic has an ongoing partnership with SpaceX and rents compute capacity from Musk’s company.
