War Between Two Tech Giants Intensifies, Impacts Spreading Everywhere
The heated conflict between the world’s two tech titans, Elon Musk and OpenAI boss Sam Altman, is once again ablaze. The eternal feud between the two camps has officially spilled into the business arena after OpenAI, led by Altman, unilaterally cut off access to its artificial intelligence (AI) models for the popular coding platform, Cursor, following the acquisition of the company by Musk’s SpaceX.
In its official announcement on Friday (28/8) local time, OpenAI confirmed it will no longer provide its technology to Cursor effective 12 November 2026. This drastic decision was not made without reason, as OpenAI openly questioned the integrity of Musk’s camp.
“We are taking this step because we cannot be certain that SpaceX will use our technology in accordance with the terms of service, reflecting our experience with Elon Musk’s companies which frequently violate contracts,” OpenAI stated in its official release, as quoted from CNBC International on Monday (31/8/2026).
This offensive move immediately triggered a harsh reaction from Cursor. The startup platform, which was recently officially swallowed by SpaceX through a fantastic acquisition worth US$60 billion on 14 August, had been a loyal partner and early user of OpenAI’s infrastructure for many years.
Elon Musk’s Decisive Retaliation: Calling Altman a ‘Scammer’
It did not take long for Elon Musk to respond to the heavy blow from OpenAI. Known as a bitter enemy of Sam Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman, the owner of X (formerly Twitter) immediately unleashed his anger on his social media platform.
In a tweet on Saturday (29/8), Musk launched a merciless and scathing condemnation, calling OpenAI executives completely untrustworthy.
“I don’t care at all. Scammers Altman and Greg Stockman are truly untrustworthy!” Musk wrote, accompanied by harsh insults, while reviving old allegations that OpenAI had “stolen a non-profit foundation.”
This escalation of tension represents a new chapter in the long-standing feud between Musk and OpenAI. Musk, who contributed funds to OpenAI when it was first established as a non-profit research laboratory in 2015, has been deeply aggrieved since his departure in 2018.
He alleges that Altman and his associates betrayed the original mission by transforming OpenAI into a massive commercial enterprise in close partnership with Microsoft—a legal claim he continues to pursue in court, despite previous judicial rejections.
Former Rivals Become Allies
Interestingly, amidst the drama of OpenAI’s termination of access, their perennial rival, Anthropic, has taken the opposite approach. The creator of the Claude AI model has expressed readiness to embrace Cursor under SpaceX’s ownership.
Anthropic’s move immediately drew mockery from netizens and tech industry executives, considering that Anthropic itself has engaged in similar actions against other platforms in the past.
Nevertheless, for the global technology market, the war between the OpenAI camp and Musk’s business dynasty is certain to intensify, especially ahead of OpenAI’s planned initial public offering (IPO) scheduled for next year.