Sam Altman wanted to cancel his Tesla Roadster reservation after years of delays. Why this is now leading to a public exchange of blows with CEO Elon Musk.
• Sam Altman wanted to cancel his Tesla Roadster reservation after waiting more than seven years
• Altman published screenshots of a failed refund request, but Musk says it was resolved quickly
• Public exchange of blows
Waiting time of over seven years: Altman draws conclusions
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman publicly vented his anger, sharing several screenshots on X documenting his attempt to cancel the 2018 Tesla Roadster reservation. The down payment was therefore $50,000.
A tale in three acts: pic.twitter.com/ClRZBgT24g
– Sam Altman (@sama) October 30, 2025
Altman wrote that he was originally excited about the vehicle, but a wait of more than seven years was “long.” He wanted to request a refund, but received an error message. As Golem.de reports, Altman criticized in this context that the process was neither clear nor smooth.
Public debate: Musk counters sharply
Tesla CEO only reacted shortly afterwards Elon Musk with clear criticism. A report from Business Insider reveals that Musk accused Altman of leaving out key parts of the story. Musk emphasized that Altman received the refund within 24 hours.
And you forgot to mention act 4, where this issue was fixed and you received a refund within 24 hours.
But that is in your nature.
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 1, 2025
In addition, Musk also used the incident to once again address the long-standing conflict over the structure of OpenAI. He accused Altman of turning what was originally intended as a non-profit organization into a for-profit model. Musk was a co-founder and early financier of the organization, but is now critical of Altman’s leadership. Altman and OpenAI reject the renewed allegations.
Not the first incident: YouTuber also canceled Roadster reservation
Other celebrities before Sam Altman also had problems with the cancellation of the Tesla Roadster. Popular tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) had given up his reservation after almost eight years of waiting. Brownlee spoke in a podcast about how the refund process was significantly more complicated than expected.
The YouTuber received a large portion of his deposit back, but not the full $50,000. Accordingly, Tesla withheld $5,000. Brownlee then publicly criticized Tesla for “sitting on the money” for years.
Roadster still not in production
Even after almost eight years, the Tesla Roadster is still not in series production. As Business Insider reports, according to Tesla’s latest quarterly report, the model still only has “Design Development” status.
The market launch of the vehicle, which was presented in 2017, has since been postponed several times. Musk recently announced that a new version would be shown – but a specific date for the start of production remains unclear.
Editorial team finanzen.net
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