Elon Musk has responded after Sam Altman made a viral tweet revealing he ordered and paid for a Tesla Roadster over seven years ago and, like many people, is still waiting for it to arrive.
Sometimes delays are inevitable. While gamers worldwide are hyped for the upcoming GTA VI release, many braced for production delays before they can finally get their hands on Rockstar's highly anticipated title. That said, fans have been waiting over a decade since GTA V's success.
Meanwhile, in the tech world, some have been waiting nearly as long, not for a video game, but for a car they've already paid for.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was pleased to have originally paid $45,000 back in 2018 to reserve Tesla’s long-delayed Roadster EV.
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However, the OpenAI founder revealed on X that he'd cancelled his Tesla Roadster reservation after waiting an astonishing 7.5 years. His post appeared to suggest he still hadn't received his $50,000 refund.
This week, Altman shared screenshots of his vehicle cancellation request, writing: “I really was excited for the car! And I understand delays. But 7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait.”
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The message quickly went viral, catching the attention of none other than Tesla's CEO himself, who wasted no time firing back with his own account of events.
“And you forgot to mention act 4, where this issue was fixed and you received a refund within 24 hours,” Musk fired back. “But that is in your nature.”
Tesla first launched the second-generation Roadster in 2017, promising a record-breaking 0 to 60 mph acceleration time of just 1.9 seconds. While the specs sound incredible, production has been repeatedly pushed back with no confirmed release date ever materialising.
For Altman, seven and a half years of waiting finally proved too much, prompting him to cancel and request his refund. As for Musk, the public callout came as another opportunity to defend Tesla's reputation.
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The exchange has reopened longstanding tensions between the two tech titans, who've been at odds for years since Musk departed from OpenAI.
In the same thread of posts, Musk also threw accusations at Altman, commenting: "You stole a non-profit."
Musk was an early investor in OpenAI, which he and Altman co-founded as a nonprofit organisation with the stated mission to 'build AI for the benefit of humanity'.
But their relationship soured dramatically in 2018, when Musk stepped down from OpenAI's board after accusing Altman of abandoning the company's founding principles to pursue profit.
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Altman has continued serving as OpenAI's CEO, guiding the company through its transformation into one of the most influential AI organisations in the world after the explosive success of ChatGPT.