Almost four years together and a four-paragraph statement.
Cursor is now part of SpaceX. OpenAI says it cannot be confident the new owner will use its models within the rules, and is heading for the exit. No hedging, names included.
Fact
The facts: on 28 August 2026 OpenAI said it had notified SpaceX of its intention to wind down the contract under which OpenAI models are provided to Cursor, with a proposed shutoff date of 12 November 2026. The company is giving the maximum notice the contract allows. As its reason, OpenAI says that after the acquisition of Twitter, now part of SpaceX, the company broke the terms of their contract, and that earlier this year Elon Musk admitted under oath that xAI, also now part of SpaceX, had violated OpenAI's terms of service. The Cursor contract gives a limited window to cancel after a change of control. OpenAI adds that it has a new level of accountability for how its upcoming model Astra is used, and that it will not provide future models to Cursor. The collaboration has lasted nearly four years.
The product has not changed. The owner has, and that is enough.
Who pays
OpenAI says it itself: the people most affected are the developers who use its models in Cursor. Not SpaceX and not Musk. The person who opens the editor in the morning and is used to a particular model now has to think about a replacement before thinking about their next project.
There is also a quiet detail. The shutoff is not until November, but new models stop now. Whatever OpenAI releases from today on will not be in Cursor. For an editor that lives by offering the best model available, that hurts more than the date itself.
If your work runs on an OpenAI model through Cursor, you have until 12 November. That is enough to try a replacement calmly. It is not enough if you start in November.
Official primary sources
OpenAI - Our decision on Cursor following its acquisition by SpaceX, 28.08.2026The visual is generated code-art, no third-party images.