Elon Musk hits back at Sam Altman over Tesla car delay claim
New Delhi: Tesla CEO Elon Musk has fired back at OpenAI chief Sam Altman after the latter claimed he had been waiting more than seven years for a Tesla car he booked in 2018.
Altman alleged that despite paying a $45,000 pre-reservation fee for a Tesla vehicle in July 2018, he neither received the car nor a refund — even after multiple follow-ups. Sharing screenshots of his email exchanges with Tesla on social media platform X, Altman posted his booking confirmation, refund request, and a bounced email message reading “Address not found.”
Calling his experience “a tale in three acts,” Altman wrote, “I really was excited for the car! And I understand delays. But 7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait.”
Musk, however, swiftly responded, accusing Altman of omitting “key details” from his 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 retorted in a pointed reply on X.
In a follow-up post, Musk took another jab at Altman, writing, “You stole a non-profit,” referencing his long-standing criticism of OpenAI’s transformation from a non-profit to a for-profit entity.
The dispute adds another chapter to the ongoing tension between the two tech leaders.
Altman is believed to have reserved Tesla’s second-generation Roadster, unveiled in 2017 as “the fastest production car ever made.” However, the model’s launch has faced multiple delays and remains in the “design development” phase, according to Tesla’s latest filings.
