OpenAI announced late Friday that it is ending its partnership with Cursor, cutting off the coding tool's access to its models on November 12. The move comes two weeks after SpaceX completed its $60 billion acquisition of Cursor's parent company, Anysphere, folding the popular AI coding assistant into Elon Musk's growing SpaceXAI division.
What Happened
In a post on its website, OpenAI said the decision came down to trust, not technology. "We cannot be confident that SpaceX will use our technology within our terms of service, based on our experience with Elon Musk's companies violating contracts," the company wrote. OpenAI pointed to two specific incidents: X, now part of SpaceX, allegedly breaking the terms of an existing OpenAI contract after Musk bought Twitter. The November 12 deadline was framed as maximum notice under the partnership contract.
Why It Matters
The split leaves Cursor leaning harder on Anthropic's Claude—which has its own compute agreement with SpaceX—and on Cursor's in-house Composer model. Whether Anthropic makes a similar call is now an open question in AI coding. The decision also adds another layer to the already tense relationship between Musk and OpenAI, which dates back to his 2018 departure from the company's board after cofounding it in 2015.
The Bottom Line
SpaceX exercised its option to acquire Cursor for $60 billion in June, days after SpaceX's own IPO, with the deal closing in mid-August. Cursor CEO Michael Truell now reports directly to Musk inside SpaceXAI.