OpenAI Cut Off a Billion-Dollar Customer to Avoid Elon Musk
OpenAI has terminated its partnership with the AI coding editor Cursor to avoid business ties with Elon Musk, who is now involved with the company. This decision represents a significant revenue loss for OpenAI as it prepares for an IPO.
Why it matters
It illustrates the intense corporate and personal friction between OpenAI and Elon Musk, showing how strategic business decisions are being influenced by these high-stakes rivalries.
In doing so, OpenAI walked away from one of its most important customers. Cursor has long paid OpenAI fees to offer the ChatGPT-maker’s models to developers using its AI coding editor. At the start of 2026, Cursor was one of OpenAI’s top five customers in terms of revenue, people familiar with the matter tell WIRED. By the spring of this year, OpenAI estimated Cursor would bring in more than $1 billion in annualized revenue for the ChatGPT maker, based on the partnership’s performance at that time, the people said.
The figures, which have not been previously reported, indicate the financial loss OpenAI is willing to take on to avoid doing business with Musk. OpenAI declined to comment. Representatives for SpaceX and Cursor did not immediately respond to WIRED's request for comment.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in