OpenAI has told SpaceX it will stop supplying models to Cursor, with the OpenAI Cursor contract winding down on November 12, 2026. The company says it cannot be confident SpaceX will keep its technology within OpenAI’s terms of service.
OpenAI notified SpaceX on August 28, giving the maximum notice its contract allows. The announcement cites a history of Musk’s companies breaking agreements: X, formerly Twitter and now part of SpaceX, breached the terms of its contract after Musk acquired it, and Musk admitted under oath this year that xAI had violated OpenAI’s terms of service. xAI is also now part of SpaceX. Reuters called it the latest escalation in the feud between OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Musk.
“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
OpenAI Cursor deal: why it is ending
The decision follows SpaceX’s $60 billion all-stock acquisition of Cursor-maker Anysphere, announced in June and completed on August 15 — a deal we covered when it closed. OpenAI’s custom agreement with Cursor gave it a limited window to cancel after a change of control — and it says it has held the cancellation to the latest date possible while no longer supplying future models.
Michael Truell, Cursor co-founder and now a SpaceX executive, said the two teams are talking.
“Cursor was one of the very first users of OpenAI, we’ve worked closely with their team for years, and we’ve trusted their platform to be neutral infrastructure for our business.”
Michael Truell, Cursor co-founder
What Cursor developers lose
The editor itself is unaffected. Cursor still offers Grok models developed with SpaceXAI as first-party options, and its users can reach frontier models from Anthropic and Google. What ends on November 12 is direct access to OpenAI’s models inside Cursor, at least for now.
The split is the latest move in the long-running rivalry between OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Musk, who sued OpenAI for $150 billion over its shift from a nonprofit; a federal jury ruled against him earlier this year. It lands weeks after SpaceX’s public listing.
For developers in the UAE, the practical change is simple: Cursor keeps working with the same editor and its Grok, Claude and Gemini options — only the OpenAI model row disappears from the picker. OpenAI’s models remain available directly through ChatGPT and its API.
Why is OpenAI ending its Cursor partnership?
OpenAI says it cannot be confident that SpaceX, Cursor’s new owner, will use its technology within OpenAI’s terms of service. It cites X and xAI, both now part of SpaceX, breaking contract terms in the past.
When does OpenAI stop supplying models to Cursor?
OpenAI proposed November 12, 2026 as the shutdown date, saying it is giving the maximum notice its contract with Cursor allows.
Can I still use Cursor with AI models after November 12?
Yes. Cursor continues to offer Grok models from SpaceXAI, plus frontier models from Anthropic and Google. Only direct access to OpenAI models ends.
