OpenAI to cut off AI models for SpaceX-owned Cursor, escalating feud with Musk

OpenAI announced on Friday that it would cease providing AI models to Cursor, a coding tool company that is now controlled by Elon Musk's SpaceX. This move escalates the long-standing rivalry between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Musk, who have been feuding for years. The conflict culminated in a trial earlier this year, where Musk filed a $150 billion lawsuit against OpenAI.

Musk's lawyer testified that Musk and others had accused Altman of lying, while OpenAI argued that Musk had sought control of the company. OpenAI stated in a blog post that the decision to cut off Cursor came because they could no longer be confident that SpaceX would use their technology according to their terms of service, citing past violations by Musk's companies.

Musk responded on X, expressing indifference, and accused Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman of being untrustworthy, reiterating his claim that they had stolen an open-source nonprofit. Michael Truell, a co-founder of Cursor and now an executive at SpaceX, mentioned on X that Cursor was discussing with the OpenAI team to resolve the issue.

After OpenAI's announcement, Anthropic, another rival firm with an ongoing partnership with SpaceX, said it planned to increase compute resources to support its Claude models in Cursor, according to Tom Brown, co-founder of Cursor. OpenAI concluded in its blog post that SpaceX had breached the terms of its contract with OpenAI after Musk acquired the platform.

The AI company proposed a shutoff date of November 12, 2026, noting that their agreement with Cursor allowed for a limited time window to cancel following a change of control. SpaceX acquired the startup behind Cursor, Anysphere, in a $60 billion all-stock deal in June, and completed the acquisition earlier this month.