OpenAI said it will end its contract with Cursor, a coding startup recently acquired by SpaceX, because it does not trust a company owned by Elon Musk to comply with its terms of service. The company said in a statement released late Friday that it plans to close Cursor’s access to OpenAI models on November 12. “This decision was incredibly difficult, as we care deeply about making our models widely available to developers,” OpenAI said. “We are making this decision because we cannot be sure that SpaceX will use our technology within our terms of service, based on our experience with Elon Musk’s companies violating contracts.” Spokespeople for SpaceX and OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment. OpenAI did not accuse Cursor of violating any of the terms. Instead, he pointed to the past conduct of another Musk-owned company, Twitter, which Musk bought in 2022 and merged with SpaceX in early February. OpenAI said on its blog that Twitter had previously violated the terms of its contract, citing a New York Times story that reported that Musk cut off OpenAI’s access to Twitter data. OpenAI also wrote that SpaceX’s CEO said under oath earlier this year that xAI had violated OpenAI’s terms by training Grok from OpenAI production. Musk said at the time that it was “partially” true that xAI had distilled OpenAI’s models, The Verge reported in April. OpenAI said it uses “custom contracts” with large partners like SpaceX to ensure compliance. The partnership OpenAI had with Cursor provided a “limited window of time” to cancel the deal after the acquisition, the company said. SpaceX officially acquired Cursor this month for $60 billion. The deal gives the coding startup access to SpaceX’s computing power. Want more Business Insider in your news? Add BI on Google to make our reports easier to find when you’re looking for what matters. Cursor, an AI coding editor, offers models from several companies within its software, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and SpaceXAI. Their website lists OpenAI’s GPT-5.6 Luna, Sol, and Terra models that paid users can access through their software. It is unclear which Cursor users or models will be affected by the shutdown. OpenAI said it will not provide “future models” to Cursor, including its upcoming Astra model. The decision is the latest escalation in the long-running dispute between Musk and OpenAI. In 2024, Musk, OpenAI’s co-founder and one of its early backers, sued the company, its CEO Sam Altman, and others over its shift from a nonprofit research lab to a partially for-profit entity. In May, a federal jury found that Musk waited too long to bring the case. The statute of limitations is missing. Musk said he plans to appeal the decision. Do you have any advice? Contact this reporter by email at lloydlee@businessinsider.com or Signal at lloydlee.71. Using a personal email address, non-work WiFi network, and non-work device; Here’s our guide to sharing information securely.
