Cursor founder says OpenAI models account for just 5% of user traffic

When your biggest supplier fires you, the best possible response is proving you barely needed them anyway. That’s essentially the play Cursor CEO Michael Truell made on August 29, 2026, revealing that OpenAI’s models power roughly 5% of the platform’s total user traffic, one day after OpenAI announced it was pulling the plug on their model-supply contract. The timing is not subtle. OpenAI’s decision to cut off Cursor stems directly from SpaceX’s acquisition of Anysphere, Cursor’s parent company, in a $60B all-stock deal that closed on August 14. OpenAI cited compliance concerns related to SpaceX, which is to say, concerns related to Elon Musk. A $60B acquisition meets a corporate breakup SpaceX’s purchase of Anysphere ranks among the largest acquisitions in the AI tools space. At $60B, it values Cursor at a staggering premium, though the company’s reported annual recurring revenue exceeding $3B and more than 1 million daily active users suggest this isn’t purely speculative pricing. OpenAI’s response was swift. On August 28, the company notified SpaceX of its intent to terminate the Cursor model-supply contract, setting a deadline of November 12, 2026. Cursor is also barred from ac...