OpenAI plans to end its partnership with Cursor following the coding startup’s $60 billion acquisition by SpaceX, giving developers a little over two months to prepare for the change.
Under OpenAI’s proposal, Cursor’s direct access to its models will end on November 12, 2026.
The decision comes just two weeks after SpaceX completed its acquisition of Cursor on August 14. The all-stock transaction valued the coding startup at $60 billion.
SpaceX had held an option to acquire Cursor since April, when the companies began working together to train an AI model. SpaceX exercised that option two months later.
Before the acquisition, Cursor relied heavily on models from OpenAI alongside Anthropic’s Claude and Google’s Gemini.
OpenAI Says Trust is the Main Issue
OpenAI said its decision is based on concerns about whether SpaceX will use its technology in accordance with its terms of service.
The company pointed to previous contract violations involving Elon Musk’s companies but did not specify exactly how it believes SpaceX could misuse OpenAI models through Cursor.
The ownership change is central to the decision. OpenAI did not present the move as a problem with Cursor itself but as a consequence of SpaceX taking control of the company.
OpenAI also acknowledged that developers who use its models through Cursor will be the most affected and said it is prepared to support them during the transition.
The decision also highlights growing competition around AI models. SpaceX and xAI are both controlled by Musk, while OpenAI increasingly competes directly with xAI in the broader AI market.
Cursor’s Multi-Model Strategy Faces a Test
Cursor has grown into one of the most widely used AI coding platforms.
The company reached a $29.3 billion valuation in late 2025 and was generating more than $1 billion in annualized revenue before SpaceX agreed to acquire it for $60 billion.
Fortune reported in March that Cursor was being used by 67% of Fortune 500 companies and generating around 150 million lines of enterprise code every day.
Cursor CEO Michael Truell has argued that the company’s strategy is to offer developers the best AI models available rather than depend on a single provider.
He previously compared coding tools made directly by AI model companies to “concept cars,” while describing Cursor as the equivalent of a manufactured car that combines technology from different providers.
OpenAI’s planned departure on November 12 will put that strategy to the test.
Cursor currently supports models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google and other providers through a model selector inside its chat and agent interface. Losing direct access to OpenAI will therefore not make Cursor unusable, but it will remove one of its major model suppliers.
AI Companies Are Tightening Model Access
OpenAI’s decision also comes as AI companies place tighter restrictions on how third-party coding tools access their models.
Anthropic previously cracked down on unauthorized access to Claude through third-party coding tools, forcing services such as OpenCode toward approved API access rather than using consumer subscriptions indirectly.
OpenAI took a different approach and worked with OpenCode to allow users to access its models using ChatGPT or Codex subscriptions.
The different approaches highlight a broader shift across the industry as AI companies take greater control over how third-party products distribute and integrate their models.
For Cursor users, the immediate question is what happens after November 12.
OpenAI has not explained exactly what its promised support for affected developers will involve, including whether it could provide migration assistance, temporary exceptions or other transition options.
What developers now have is a proposed deadline: November 12, 2026.
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