Three months after SpaceX snapped up Cursor for $60B, OpenAI has decided to pull the plug on the coding startup’s access to its models.
The cutoff lands on November 12, OpenAI said in a Friday night statement, describing the move as a trust problem with Elon Musk’s empire rather than with Cursor itself. “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.”
No rule-breaking by Cursor was alleged. OpenAI instead pointed to other Musk-owned businesses: Twitter severing OpenAI’s data access after the 2022 takeover, and Musk’s testimony that xAI trained Grok on OpenAI output. The Verge reported in April that Musk called the distillation claim “partly” true.
Cursor cofounder Michael Truell replied on X that the startup was sorry to see OpenAI plan to block its users in three months. SpaceX completed the $60B acquisition this month, handing Cursor access to its computing power.
The rift illustrates how the SpaceX-OpenAI feud is reaching into developer tools. OpenAI relies on custom contracts with large partners to police compliance, and the Cursor agreement carried a limited window to cancel once the acquisition closed.
Neither SpaceX nor OpenAI immediately responded to requests for comment.
