OpenAI cuts off Cursor after SpaceX takeover; Elon Musk is the ‘big reason’

OpenAI is ceasing its model supply to Cursor after SpaceX's acquisition of Cursor's parent company, Anysphere. The reason for the shutdown is Elon Musk, according to OpenAI's public announcement. This decision follows a pattern of Musk's companies violating contract terms, as claimed by the company.

OpenAI asserts that X, formerly Twitter and now a part of SpaceX, broke the terms of its contract after Musk's takeover. Additionally, OpenAI cites testimony from Musk acknowledging that xAI, another SpaceX-affiliated company, violated OpenAI's terms of service. The upcoming model, Astra, further tightens accountability, leading OpenAI to prefer ending the partnership with Cursor.

Cursor co-founder Michael Truell, now a SpaceX executive, confirmed that OpenAI models account for around 5% of Cursor's traffic. The company is in discussions with OpenAI to resolve the situation. Despite the damage seeming small, Cursor developed its first model, Grok 4.6, using SpaceX's compute resources.

OpenAI has left some doors open for developers. Thibault Sottiaux, who works on their coding tool, stated that users can continue using their OpenAI API keys and still access through OpenAI's IDE extensions for Cursor. Meanwhile, Anthropic, co-founded by Tom Brown, has partnered with Cursor to increase compute support for Claude models. In response to OpenAI's decision, Musk dismissed the situation, considering Sam Altman and Greg Brockman untrustworthy.