OpenAI to end Cursor partnership after SpaceX acquisition, citing terms-of-service concerns

OpenAI said on Friday that it plans to stop providing AI models to Cursor, the coding-tool company now owned by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, marking a further escalation in the bitter rivalry between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Musk. Musk and Altman have been at odds for years, a feud that culminated earlier this year in a trial over Musk’s $150 billion lawsuit against OpenAI. During the trial, Musk’s lawyer said that Musk and other witnesses had testified that Altman was a liar, while OpenAI argued that Musk had sought control of the company. “We are making this choice because 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,” OpenAI said in a blog post. Musk responded early on Saturday in an X post, writing, “I couldn’t care less.” He accused Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman of being “untrustworthy,” while repeating his assertion that they “stole an open source nonprofit”. Musk, the world’s richest person, had sued OpenAI and Altman for “stealing a charity” by betraying the company’s original nonprofit mission for their own enrichment. A federal jury ruled against Musk earlier this year, finding that he had filed the case too late. However, Michael Truell, a co-founder of Cursor and now an executive at SpaceX, said on X that the company was speaking with the OpenAI team to resolve this issue. Hours after OpenAI’s announcement, Anthropic, which rivals both firms but has an ongoing partnership with SpaceX, said it planned to increase compute to support Claude models in Cursor, according to Tom Brown, one of the co-founders of the firm. In its blog post, OpenAI said that X, formerly known as Twitter and now part of SpaceX, had breached the terms of its contract with OpenAI after Musk acquired the platform. “To work with a large partner like SpaceX, we typically rely on custom contracts to ensure compliance with our terms of service and that the integration provides for safety at scale,” the AI company added. The ChatGPT-maker said it proposed a shutoff date of November 12, 2026, adding that its agreement with Cursor gave it a limited time window to cancel the contract following “a change of control.” SpaceX announced a deal to buy Anysphere, the startup behind Cursor, for $60 billion in an all-stock deal in June, and completed the acquisition earlier this month.

New Delhi: Artificial intelligence company OpenAI will end its model-supply agreement with coding platform Cursor following its acquisition by Elon Musk-led SpaceX. Direct access to OpenAI models through Cursor is proposed to stop on November 12, 2026.OpenAI said it has formally notified SpaceX about its decision to wind down the contract. The agreement allows OpenAI to cancel the partnership within a limited period following a change in Cursor’s corporate control.OpenAI Expands ChatGPT Ads To India, Free And Go Users To See Sponsored Content From 50+ Brands The company said it is providing the maximum notice permitted under the contract to give developers more time to continue accessing its models through Cursor.Contract Compliance ConcernsOpenAI attributed the decision to concerns over whether SpaceX would use its technology in accordance with its terms of service.It cited its previous contractual experience with companies controlled by Musk, including Twitter, now X, and xAI. OpenAI said large corporate integrations typically require customised agreements to ensure compliance and maintain safety at scale.OpenAI, Anthropic & 100+ Tech Firms Warn Of Narrowing Window To Counter AI-Driven Cyberattacks: Hospitals, Critical Infrastructure Face Massive Threat Astra Model Will Not Reach CursorThe company also highlighted greater safeguards surrounding its upcoming Astra model. OpenAI said increasing AI capabilities require stricter accountability over how advanced models are deployed and used.As a result, future models, including Astra, will not be supplied to Cursor under the existing arrangement.Developers Face TransitionOpenAI said it has worked with Cursor for nearly four years and expressed respect for the coding platform and its developer community.The company acknowledged that developers relying on OpenAI models through Cursor would be most affected and pledged additional support during the transition ahead of the proposed November shutoff.

OpenAI has notified SpaceX that it intends to end its Cursor agreement, citing concerns over how its technology may be used following the acquisition

OpenAI said it was not confident ‌that ​SpaceX would use ⁠its technology “within our terms of ‌service.”

OpenAI said it has informed Cursor that it will wind down their contract with a proposed shutoff date of Nov 12

OpenAI said it doesn't trust SpaceX to comply with its terms of service, citing past conduct by xAI, another of Elon Musk's companies.