OpenAI CEO’s public attempt to get his $50,000 deposit back sparks another round in the ongoing feud with Elon Musk
Sam Altman just threw some serious shade at Tesla and Elon Musk wasn’t about to let it slide. The OpenAI CEO took to X on Thursday with what he called “a tale in three acts,” sharing screenshots that revealed his frustrating attempt to cancel a Tesla Roadster reservation he made way back in 2018. The post quickly went viral, racking up over 5 million views and reigniting one of Silicon Valley’s most bitter rivalries.
What started as a simple customer service complaint turned into another chapter in the ongoing saga between two of tech’s most influential figures. Altman’s post showed he’d been waiting 7.5 years for a car that still hasn’t entered production. When he tried to get his money back, things got awkward fast.
The Email That Bounced Back
Altman’s screenshots tell a story that many Tesla Roadster reservation holders know all too well. On July 11, 2018, he plunked down a hefty $45,000 deposit for the next-generation Tesla Roadster. That’s not pocket change adjusted for inflation, that’s about $58,206 in today’s money, according to Ars Technica.
Fast forward to October 2025, and Altman decided he’d waited long enough. He sent an email to reservations@tesla.com with a straightforward request: “Hi, I’d like to cancel my reservation. Could you please refund me the $50k?”
The response? A bounce-back message from Google stating the email address was no longer active. The reservation email had been shut down entirely.
“I really was excited for the car! And I understand delays. But 7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait,” Altman explained in a follow-up post.
His frustration is understandable. The OpenAI CEO is known to be a supercar enthusiast, and the Roadster promised to be something special when it was unveiled.
A Car That Keeps Not Arriving
The second-generation Tesla Roadster has become something of a running joke in the automotive world. When Elon Musk unveiled it in November 2017, he made some jaw-dropping promises. The car would be “the fastest production car ever made, period,” he declared. It would hit 0-60 mph in under two seconds and reach 100 mph in just 4.2 seconds.
But here’s the thing: none of that has happened yet.
Tesla originally said the Roadster would enter production in 2020. It didn’t. Every single year since, Musk has claimed the vehicle would enter production “next year.” And every year, it hasn’t materialized. The delays have become so predictable that even Tesla’s most devoted fans have started rolling their eyes.
According to Electrek, many reservation holders have reached out over the years to describe how difficult it’s been to get their money back. The process has reportedly been anything but smooth.
Tech reviewer Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) recently shared his own experience trying to cancel his Roadster reservation. He eventually had to pick up the phone and call someone directly to get most of his $50,000 deposit back. Even then, it wasn’t the full amount.
Musk Fires Back
Elon Musk, never one to let criticism slide, responded to Altman’s post with characteristic combativeness. His first reply? “You stole a nonprofit.”
That’s a reference to Musk’s long-standing criticism of how Altman has run OpenAI. The two cofounded the AI research company in 2015 as a nonprofit, but it has since transformed into a for-profit entity with close ties to Microsoft. Musk has repeatedly accused Altman of betraying OpenAI’s original mission.
But Musk didn’t stop there. In a follow-up post on Saturday, he claimed Altman was only telling part of the story. “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,” Musk wrote, according to TechCrunch.
The implication was clear: Altman had deliberately left out the resolution to make Tesla look bad. Whether that’s true or not, the damage was done. The post had already gone viral, and the court of public opinion had weighed in.
A Rivalry Years in the Making
To understand why this seemingly minor customer service issue became such a big deal, you need to understand the history between these two men. Altman and Musk’s relationship dates back to 2015, when they cofounded OpenAI together. Musk was one of the company’s early financial backers and served on its board.
But by 2018, Musk had left OpenAI’s board, and the relationship began to sour. Musk has been especially critical in recent years of Altman’s decision to transform OpenAI into a for-profit business. He’s called it a company “built on a lie.”
The feud has spilled into the courtroom multiple times. In February 2024, Musk filed a lawsuit against Altman and OpenAI, accusing them of violating the company’s nonprofit mission by partnering with Microsoft. He withdrew the lawsuit in June, only to refile it in August.
Then in November, Musk’s lawyers filed an injunction to try to stop OpenAI from converting to a for-profit company. An OpenAI spokesperson called the injunction “utterly without merit,” according to Business Insider.
The AI Arms Race Heats Up
The rivalry isn’t just personal it’s also professional. Musk started his own AI company, xAI, which is now directly competing with OpenAI. In September, xAI sued OpenAI for allegedly stealing trade secrets through poached employees.
Musk has also accused OpenAI and Apple of colluding to stifle competition. Altman responded by calling the accusation “remarkable … given what I have heard alleged that Elon does to manipulate X to benefit himself and his own companies and harm his competitors and people he doesn’t like.”
OpenAI recently completed its restructuring, with its nonprofit arm OpenAI Foundation now overseeing a new public benefit corporation called OpenAI Group PBC. The company is reportedly looking to go public at a $1 trillion valuation.
Meanwhile, Musk has made a $97 billion offer to buy OpenAI outright, though a judge blocked his request to stop the company’s for-profit conversion in March.
Not the Only One Waiting
Sam Altman isn’t alone in his frustration with the Roadster delays. Tesla took reservations for the vehicle with deposits ranging from $50,000 to $250,000, depending on whether customers wanted the standard version or the exclusive Founders Series.
Many of those reservation holders have been trying to get their money back for years. Reddit and Tesla forums are filled with threads from frustrated customers sharing tips on how to navigate the refund process. Some have described it as deliberately difficult, almost as if Tesla doesn’t want to give the money back.
The timing of Altman’s post is particularly interesting. Just days before, Electrek reported that Tesla appeared to be finally taking steps to bring the Roadster to production, with new job listings for Roadster battery manufacturing positions.
Musk has also been claiming that Tesla will hold a demonstration of an updated Roadster before the end of 2025. During a recent appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, he said the vehicle would include “crazy technology” and be “crazier than all the James Bond cars combined.”
The Vaporware Problem
The Roadster has become emblematic of a larger issue with Tesla’s product announcements. The company has a history of unveiling vehicles and features that take years longer than promised to actually materialize if they ever do.
The original Roadster announcement in 2017 promised features that impressed people who knew a little about rockets but nothing about cars, as Ars Technica pointed out. Musk talked about cold gas thrusters, suction fans, and 620 miles of range specifications that many automotive engineers found highly questionable.
In the eight years since that announcement, plenty of other electric automakers have introduced electric hypercars. Companies like Lucid, Rimac, and Lotus have all brought high-performance EVs to market while the Roadster remains in what Tesla’s latest quarterly earnings report describes as “design development.”
Fred Lambert, editor-in-chief at Electrek, summed up the sentiment perfectly: “The new Roadster is entirely in its ‘I’ll believe it when I see it’ phase for me, regardless of job listings for Roadster battery manufacturing.”
What This Means for Tesla
The Altman incident highlights a growing problem for Tesla: customer trust. When even high-profile tech executives can’t get a response to a simple refund request, it raises questions about how the company treats its customers.
According to Teslarati, one commenter on Altman’s post noted: “At least Tesla is equitable and treats all its customers with equal contempt regardless of their standing.”
That’s not exactly the kind of reputation a luxury automaker wants to cultivate.
The company’s latest quarterly earnings report still lists the Roadster as being in “design development,” with no firm production date announced. Musk has promised a demo of the updated vehicle by the end of 2025, but he’s made similar promises before that didn’t pan out.
The Personal Toll
Beyond the business implications, this latest exchange reveals just how personal the Altman-Musk feud has become. In an interview with former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson that aired in September, Altman opened up about his changing feelings toward Musk.
“For a long time, I looked up to him as an incredible hero, a great jewel for humanity. I have different feelings now,” Altman said. “There are things about him that are incredible, and I’m grateful for a lot of things he’s done. There’s a lot of things about him that I think are traits I don’t admire.”
Those are remarkably candid words from someone who once worked closely with Musk and clearly admired him. The fact that their relationship has deteriorated to the point where a car reservation becomes ammunition in their ongoing war speaks volumes.
What Happens Next?
As of now, it’s unclear whether Altman has actually received his refund. Musk claims the issue was resolved within 24 hours, but Altman hasn’t publicly confirmed that. Representatives for both Altman and Tesla have not responded to requests for comment from multiple media outlets.
What is clear is that this won’t be the last time these two clash. With OpenAI pursuing its trillion-dollar valuation and xAI competing directly in the AI space, Altman and Musk are on a collision course that shows no signs of slowing down.
The Roadster saga is just the latest skirmish in what has become one of Silicon Valley’s most bitter rivalries. And if history is any guide, there will be plenty more chapters to come.
For now, thousands of Tesla Roadster reservation holders are left wondering the same thing Altman is: Will this car ever actually exist? And if not, how hard will it be to get their money back?
Sources
- Elon Musk wants you to know that Sam Altman got a refund for his Tesla Roadster – TechCrunch
- Sam Altman tried to cancel his Tesla Roadster, but he was ghosted – Electrek
- Tesla and Elon Musk just got a stern message from Sam Altman – Teslarati
- Sam Altman wants a refund for his $50,000 Tesla Roadster deposit – Ars Technica
- Elon Musk fires back at Sam Altman’s posts about trying to cancel a Tesla Roadster order – Business Insider
- Sam Altman is trying to get his deposit back for a Tesla Roadster he ordered in 2018 – Business Insider
