gg2

OpenAI ends Cursor deal over Musk

Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.

The gist

OpenAI ended Cursor model access after SpaceX's $60B acquisition, citing Musk's contract violations. The move escalates the feud between Musk and Altman, affecting developers who rely on Cursor.

Background

OpenAI and Elon Musk have been in a long-running feud, culminating in a lawsuit over OpenAI's for-profit conversion. SpaceX acquired Cursor, an AI coding tool, for $60 billion, prompting OpenAI to cut off model access due to trust concerns.

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 2026SpaceX acquired Musk's X and xAI.
  2. Jun 2026SpaceX announced a $60 billion all-stock deal to buy Anysphere, the parent of Cursor.
  3. Aug 14, 2026SpaceX completed the $60 billion acquisition of Cursor.
  4. Aug 28, 2026OpenAI announced it would stop providing AI models to Cursor, citing past contract violations by Musk's companies.
  5. Aug 29, 2026Musk responded on X, saying he 'couldn't care less' and attacked OpenAI leaders.

Who’s saying what

OpenAI
OpenAI says it cannot trust SpaceX to comply with its terms of service, citing past violations by Musk's companies.
Musk
Musk dismissed the decision, saying he 'couldn't care less' and called OpenAI leaders 'untrustworthy assholes who stole an open source nonprofit.'

Still unverified

It is unclear which Cursor users or models will be affected by the shutdown, and OpenAI did not accuse Cursor of violating terms itself.

Sources

See today’s stories in the app gg2 — free on the App Store