OpenAI Parts Ways with Cursor After Acquisition by SpaceX

OpenAI has terminated its contract with Cursor following its acquisition by SpaceX, effective November 12, 2026. The company cites a change of control clause and a lack of trust regarding Elon Musk, while maintaining the use of individual API keys and IDE extensions. Cursor downplays the impact and states it is negotiating a resolution.

Recent Background and Impact for Cursor

The AI ecosystem has already faced access interruptions caused by acquisitions or problematic uses. In June 2025, Anthropic banned the coding tool Windsurf from using its Claude models after reports emerged about OpenAI's interest in an acquisition. In August 2025, Anthropic revoked OpenAI's API access after members of OpenAI allegedly used Claude in internal benchmarks prior to the release of GPT-5. Regarding Cursor, co-founder Michael Truell indicates that OpenAI models account for only about five percent of Cursor's AI traffic and clarifies that the company is in discussions with OpenAI to find a solution. OpenAI states that Cursor users will be able to continue using their own OpenAI API keys and that access via IDE extensions will be maintained.

Termination Triggered by Change of Control

OpenAI has notified the termination of its contract with Cursor, which will take effect on November 12, 2026. This timeline corresponds, according to OpenAI, to the maximum notice period stipulated in the contract, which includes a clause allowing termination in the event of a change of ownership. The acquisition of Cursor by SpaceX triggered this clause. OpenAI claims it cannot trust SpaceX to adhere to the terms of service. Thibault Sottiaux from OpenAI summarizes the decision as a matter of trust and specifies that it specifically targets Elon Musk, without calling into question the entire suite of AI coding tools or their developer community.

A Long-standing Dispute with Musk and a Security Argument

The decision made by OpenAI comes amid a long-standing conflict with Elon Musk, which has also led to legal actions. OpenAI accuses Musk of terminating contractual agreements following the acquisition of Twitter and attempting to collect data. OpenAI had a license with Twitter that allowed access to the entire tweet stream for about $2 million per year for the training of ChatGPT; this access was interrupted by Musk in December 2022, as he deemed the fee insufficient. Musk has also acknowledged using data from models developed by other labs to train his own Grok models, a practice known as distillation, which OpenAI considers a violation of its terms of service. OpenAI also presents the break with Cursor as a security measure, referencing the arrival of the Astra model, announced with advanced cyber capabilities, and the need for a new level of accountability for its partners.