OpenAI will cut Cursor’s access to its models after SpaceX acquisition
OpenAI will stop providing its models directly to Cursor after SpaceX acquired Anysphere, the company behind the AI coding editor. In an official post published on August 28, 2026, OpenAI said it had notified SpaceX that it intends to wind down the Cursor contract, with a proposed shutoff date of November 12, 2026.
The company says the decision was triggered by Cursor’s change of control. OpenAI said its agreement with Cursor gives it a limited window to cancel the contract after such a change, and that it is giving the maximum notice allowed by the contract.
Why OpenAI is walking away
OpenAI’s stated reason is not Cursor’s product quality or developer adoption. The company says it cannot be confident that SpaceX will use OpenAI technology within its terms of service, citing earlier disputes involving Musk-owned companies.
OpenAI pointed to its past contract with Twitter, now part of SpaceX, and to Musk’s earlier admission under oath that xAI had violated OpenAI’s terms of service. OpenAI also said the decision is tied to a higher level of accountability around future models, including its upcoming model Astra.
What changes for Cursor users
The practical impact depends on how much a developer relies on OpenAI models inside Cursor. Cursor co-founder Michael Truell said OpenAI models represent about 5% of Cursor traffic and that the company is trying to contact OpenAI to resolve the issue.
That makes the cutoff less likely to break Cursor as a product, but it still matters for teams that standardized on GPT models inside the editor. It also shows a broader risk in AI developer tools: the model menu inside an IDE is a supply chain, and ownership changes can affect access even when the tool itself keeps working.
The Musk factor
The announcement quickly turned into another public fight between Musk and OpenAI. Musk said he “couldn’t care less” and accused Sam Altman and OpenAI president Greg Brockman of being untrustworthy, repeating his claim that OpenAI moved away from its original nonprofit mission.
OpenAI, meanwhile, said it respects the Cursor team and wants to support developers through the transition. The core tension is now less about Cursor itself and more about whether OpenAI is willing to supply models to a coding product controlled by SpaceX.