On 28 August OpenAI notified SpaceX that it is ending the contract under which its models run in Cursor. It is giving the maximum notice the contract allows and withholding future models, Astra included. The reason is stated plainly: its experience with Elon Musk's companies.
- The proposed shutoff date is 12 November 2026; the models stay until then.
- OpenAI points to a contract broken by Twitter and an admission under oath that xAI violated its terms. Both are now part of SpaceX.
- There will be no new models for Cursor. The people hit hardest, in OpenAI's own words, are developers.
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.
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.