‘That is in your nature...’ Elon Musk claps back at Sam Altman’s 7-year wait claim

The ongoing friction between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman resurfaced once again after Altman alleged he has been waiting more than seven years for a Tesla car he booked. Musk, however, dismissed the claim, saying that Altman had “left out key details.”

What did Sam Altman say?

Altman stated that he paid a pre-reservation fee of $45,000 for a Tesla vehicle back in July 2018. Despite several follow-ups over the years, he said he neither received the car nor a refund.

In a post on X, the OpenAI CEO shared screenshots of his email exchanges with Tesla, including the booking confirmation, his refund request, and an error message that showed his email had bounced back with the message “Address not found.”

Calling the situation “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 responds to Altman’s post

Elon Musk was quick to reply, saying Altman had not mentioned everything. “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 in a pointed response on X.

He then followed it up with another sharp remark directed at Altman, writing, “You stole a non-profit,” referring to his long-standing criticism of OpenAI’s transformation from a non-profit research group into a for-profit company.

The car in question

The vehicle Altman reportedly reserved was Tesla’s second-generation Roadster, which was first revealed in 2017 as “the fastest production car ever made.”

However, the launch of the car has faced multiple delays. According to Tesla’s latest financial reports, the Roadster remains in the “design development” phase, with no confirmed delivery timeline yet.

IANS inputs