OpenAI Ends Cursor Partnership Over SpaceX Buyout; Elon Musk Says 'I Couldn't Care Less'

OpenAI announced on August 29, 2026 that it will end its direct access to AI models within the coding tool Cursor, with a proposed cut-off date of November 12. This decision follows SpaceX's acquisition of Cursor's parent company, Anysphere. OpenAI cited trust concerns over contract terms, specifically expressing doubts about SpaceX using the technology within its terms of service.

The move comes amid a longstanding dispute between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SpaceX and xAI CEO Elon Musk, who dismissed the decision, stating he "couldn't care less" and accusing Altman and his team of being untrustworthy. OpenAI had worked with Cursor for nearly four years and emphasized its commitment to keeping its models broadly accessible to developers.

Cursor co-founder Michael Truell downplayed the impact, noting that OpenAI's models account for around 5% of traffic on the platform and that the two companies were in discussions to resolve the situation. In response, Anthropic and xAI indicated they would step in to fill the gap, with Anthropic increasing support for its Claude models on Cursor and xAI expanding its Grok models and Colossus computing infrastructure.