Elon Musk Wants You to Know That Sam Altman Got a Refund From Tesla

Elon Musk and Sam Altman are continuing their back-and-forth feud on Musk’s social platform X.

Although both were co-founders of OpenAI — where Altman now serves as CEO — the two have clashed repeatedly in recent years through social media posts, lawsuits, and public statements. Their latest exchange started after Altman shared what he described as “a tale in three acts,” including screenshots showing that he had reserved a Tesla Roadster in 2018, attempted to cancel the order, and asked for a refund of his $50,000 reservation fee — only for his email to bounce.

“I really was excited for the car!” Altman wrote. “And I understand delays. But 7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait.”

Tesla first unveiled the second-generation Roadster in November 2017, but the project has seen numerous delays. Musk, Tesla’s CEO, recently claimed that a new version will be revealed by the end of this year.

Musk’s initial response to Altman’s post was: “You stole a nonprofit,” a jab he has aimed at Altman and OpenAI many times — including in previous tweets, legal filings, and efforts to block OpenAI’s transition from a nonprofit into a for-profit entity. (That restructuring has since been finalised, with OpenAI’s nonprofit arm maintaining control over the for-profit division.)

Musk also launched his own competing AI company, xAI, which is currently suing OpenAI and Apple, alleging that the two are working together to suppress competition. Altman dismissed the accusation as “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.”

Alongside repeating his long-standing criticism of Altman and OpenAI, Musk today implied that Altman’s Roadster screenshots left out a key detail.

“And you forgot to mention act 4, where this issue was fixed and you received a refund within 24 hours,” Musk wrote. “But that is in your nature.”