OpenAI Cut Off a Billion-Dollar Customer to Avoid Elon Musk
OpenAI recently estimated its Cursor partnership would make more than $1 billion in revenue a year, WIRED has learned. It still walked away after Elon Musk’s SpaceX acquired the AI coding startup.
In 2026, OpenAI decided to sever ties with Cursor, one of its most significant customers, to avoid a potential conflict of interest with Elon Musk. Cursor had been paying OpenAI fees to integrate the ChatGPT-maker’s models into its AI coding editor. By the spring of 2026, Cursor was projected to generate over $1 billion annually for OpenAI, making it one of the company’s top five customers.
OpenAI’s decision was based on concerns that SpaceX, under Musk’s leadership, might not adhere to the terms of service. OpenAI acknowledged that ending the partnership could harm its relationship with developers, a community it had worked hard to attract. However, the loss of Cursor may not significantly impact OpenAI’s financial stability, as the company now generates over $40 billion in annualized revenue.
Michael Truell, Cursor’s CEO and now a leader at SpaceX, claimed that OpenAI’s models accounted for only 5% of Cursor’s user traffic. OpenAI refuted this claim, emphasizing that token usage does not necessarily equate to revenue or value. Despite the breakup, Cursor has expressed its intention to continue supporting third-party AI models from OpenAI and Anthropic.
OpenAI’s decision to cut off Cursor reflects its commitment to building a more stable business model, reducing its reliance on Musk’s companies.
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