When SpaceX announced last month that it had agreed to acquire the popular AI coding startup Cursor for $60 billion, investors believed the deal would be a boon for both companies. Cursor would benefit from the computing resources of a major AI lab, while SpaceX and Elon Musk would own one of the most popular AI developer tools. But a critical question hangs over the deal: can Cursor remain an open platform that offers models from rival AI labs like OpenAI and Anthropic, or will the acquisition force a split?
The Role of Third-Party AI Models
Third-party AI models have historically played a critical role in Cursor's business. While Cursor has started training its own AI models in recent years, it has always allowed users to choose from a variety of offerings from Anthropic, OpenAI, and other AI labs to power its coding assistant. That strategy let Cursor offer customers whichever model was best or cheapest at a given moment. It also benefited Anthropic and OpenAI, which both count Cursor among their largest customers and feature the startup prominently in their marketing materials.
After SpaceX's acquisition is finalized later this year, Cursor hopes to continue operating its AI coding product as a platform—serving models from Anthropic, OpenAI, and other AI labs alongside its own—according to people close to Cursor, as reported by WIRED. However, doubts remain about whether this plan will hold.
Rivalries and Past Precedents
This is not the first time Cursor's relationship with OpenAI and Anthropic has been tested. Historically, Cursor complemented the AI labs by distributing their models, but now it increasingly competes directly as OpenAI’s Codex and Anthropic’s Claude Code have become major lines of business. The SpaceX acquisition will likely intensify that rivalry.
Once the deal closes, SpaceX will own Cursor’s assets, customer contracts, and intellectual property—meaning OpenAI and Anthropic will have to do business with Musk if they want to reach Cursor’s users. It is possible SpaceX decides it does not want to send business to two of its biggest competitors in frontier AI development, and the AI labs may determine they are unwilling to sell through a product owned by Musk. CEOs Dario Amodei (Anthropic) and Sam Altman (OpenAI) have butted heads with Musk in the past.
A telling precedent: last year, Anthropic quickly cut off access to Windsurf after news broke that OpenAI was acquiring the AI coding startup (the deal ultimately fell through). Anthropic cofounder Jared Kaplan said at the time that it “would be odd to sell Claude to OpenAI.” In the months since, Anthropic has worked to limit OpenAI and SpaceX from using its Claude AI models.
Signs of Changing Times?
Despite past tensions, there are signs of pragmatism. Anthropic recently struck a multi-billion dollar deal to buy computing resources from SpaceX, suggesting that Amodei and Musk may be willing to put aside differences for business reasons. WIRED notes that times may be changing.
Eno Reyes, cofounder and CTO of Factory, a smaller AI coding startup that competes with Cursor, says he is not certain that SpaceX’s rivals will automatically cut Cursor off. “I don't know if the decision is as black and white,” Reyes told WIRED. “It’s actually super unclear to us.”
Regulatory and Operational Uncertainty
The deal has not yet closed and remains subject to “requisite regulatory approvals,” according to documents SpaceX filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Cursor declined to comment for this story. Anthropic, OpenAI, and SpaceX did not respond to requests for comment.
| Key Entity | Stance / Role |
|---|---|
| SpaceX | Acquiring Cursor for $60B; owns competing AI lab; no comment |
| Cursor | Wants to remain open platform; declined comment |
| OpenAI | Model provider; CEO Sam Altman has clashed with Musk |
| Anthropic | Model provider; cut off Windsurf in past; recently bought compute from SpaceX; no comment |
| Factory | Competitor to Cursor; CTO Eno Reyes says future is unclear |
| Windsurf | AI coding startup; lost Anthropic access after OpenAI acquisition attempt |
The outcome will have significant implications for enterprise users who rely on Cursor to access the best AI coding models. If rival labs withdraw their models, Cursor’s value proposition weakens; if they stay, it signals a new era of cooperation between AI labs and Musk’s empire. For now, the industry watches as the deal moves toward regulatory review.
