Technology
OpenAI winds down partnership with coding tool Cursor following SpaceX acquisition
The AI company cited concerns over contract compliance under Elon Musk, walking away from an estimated $1 billion in annualized revenue.
The short version
- OpenAI announced it is terminating its commercial agreement with AI coding editor Cursor after SpaceX acquired the startup for $60 billion.
- OpenAI justified the move by citing past contract disputes with Elon Musk's companies and concerns that SpaceX might violate terms of service or distill its models.
- Cursor's leadership minimized the loss by claiming OpenAI accounts for only 5% of user traffic, while Anthropic confirmed its Claude models will remain available on the platform.
Key facts
- OpenAI announced it is ending its partnership providing AI models to coding assistant Cursor following Cursor's $60 billion acquisition by SpaceX.[Wired]
- Cursor ranked among OpenAI's top five customers by revenue in early 2026, with OpenAI estimating the deal would produce over $1 billion in annualized revenue.[Wired]
- OpenAI stated it lacked confidence that SpaceX would follow its terms of service, pointing to historical contract violations by businesses run by Elon Musk.[Wired]
- Anthropic cofounder Tom Brown announced that the company will continue offering its Claude AI models to Cursor users.[Wired]
What remains uncertain
- Cursor CEO Michael Truell claimed OpenAI models represent only around 5% of user traffic, a metric contested by OpenAI product lead Thibault Sottiaux, who argued token volume does not reflect economic value.[Wired]