---
title: "OpenAI dropped $1B/year Cursor deal after Musk's SpaceX bought it"
url: https://www.parallelquant.com/posts/openai-dropped-1b-year-cursor-deal-after-musk-s-spacex-bought-it-e5173e
source_name: "WIRED"
source_url: https://www.wired.com/story/openai-elon-musk-cursor-billion-revenue/
published: 2026-09-03T16:42:40.000Z
topics: ["business", "llms"]
publisher: "Parallel Quant"
---

# OpenAI dropped $1B/year Cursor deal after Musk's SpaceX bought it

*2026-09-03 · Source: [WIRED](https://www.wired.com/story/openai-elon-musk-cursor-billion-revenue/)*

OpenAI reportedly estimated its partnership with AI coding startup Cursor would generate more than $1 billion in annual revenue. OpenAI still walked away from the deal after Elon Musk's SpaceX acquired Cursor.

**Why it matters:** Turning down over $1 billion in annual revenue underscores how personal the rivalry between Sam Altman and Elon Musk has become, extending a competition already playing out in lawsuits and dueling model releases into commercial partnership decisions. It also signals OpenAI now treats SpaceX-linked ventures as a business risk large enough to override a major revenue stream, which could shape which coding-tool startups are willing to build on OpenAI's models.

**Topics:** business, llms

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Read the original: https://www.wired.com/story/openai-elon-musk-cursor-billion-revenue/
Canonical: https://www.parallelquant.com/posts/openai-dropped-1b-year-cursor-deal-after-musk-s-spacex-bought-it-e5173e
Published by Parallel Quant — https://www.parallelquant.com