OpenAI's Sam Altman cancels Tesla Roadster order, rekindling tensions with Elon Musk

OpenAI Chief Executive Sam Altman said on Friday that he had canceled his long-delayed order for Tesla’s next-generation Roadster, appearing to take a subtle jab at Elon Musk as their years-long feud resurfaced online.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Altman shared a screenshot of an email to Tesla requesting a refund for his $50,000 deposit. “Hi, I’d like to cancel my reservation. Could you please refund me the $50K?” he wrote.

“I really was excited for the car! And I understand delays,” Altman added. “But 7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait.” He said he had placed the order in 2018.

The post quickly spread across social media, drawing renewed attention to Tesla’s repeated postponements of its long-promised sports car and the increasingly public rivalry between two of Silicon Valley’s most high-profile figures.

Tesla first unveiled the second-generation Roadster in late 2017, touting it as the world’s fastest production car, with a zero-to-100-kilometer-per-hour time of under two seconds and a range of nearly 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) per charge. The company initially projected a 2020 release, but the model has faced years of delays as Tesla shifted resources toward higher-volume vehicles and energy projects.

A tale in three acts: pic.twitter.com/ClRZBgT24g

— Sam Altman (@sama) October 30, 2025

During an earnings call last year, Musk apologized to “long-suffering deposit holders,” saying the Roadster remained a “cherry on the icing of the cake” — a lower priority compared with other efforts tied to Tesla’s broader mission of sustainable energy. Musk said the design was nearly complete and predicted that the car would be “something spectacular,” though he stopped short of confirming a firm production date.

Tesla executives have since hinted that a demonstration could take place in late 2025, with limited deliveries possibly beginning as late as 2027.

Altman’s post arrives amid escalating friction between him and Musk, who co-founded OpenAI in 2015 before leaving the company three years later. Musk has repeatedly accused OpenAI and Altman of straying from their original nonprofit ideals, and he filed a lawsuit earlier this year alleging that OpenAI had effectively become a closed, for-profit enterprise.

Altman, for his part, has largely refrained from engaging directly but has occasionally offered pointed responses online. His latest public move — canceling a Tesla order after years of waiting — appeared to resonate as much as a consumer frustration as it did a symbolic parting shot in one of tech’s most-watched rivalries.