OpenAI’s Sam Altman has expressed disappointment at being unable to receive a $50,000 refund for pre-booking a Tesla Roadster in 2018. Taking to social media, the OpenAI CEO detailed an email exchange of his booking of the electric vehicle (EV) and the subsequent attempt to cancel it 7.5 years later in October 2025.
In a post titled, ‘A tale in three acts’, Altman shared screenshots of pre-booking the Tesla Roadster and the subsequent error message when seeking a refund. Altman replied to the automated reservation message: “Hi, I’d like to cancel my reservation. Could you please refund me the $50k?”
Altman added that he was excited for the car, but having waited nearly eight years for it, it was time to cut losses. “I really was excited for the car! And I understand delays. But 7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait,” he added.
However, the refund mail by Altman did not reach Tesla as the email address, reservations@tesla.com, could not be found, as per the error message.
Tesla Roadster Wait
Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the Roadster in 2017 amid much fanfare as a performance-oriented EV. The company claimed that Roadster could accelerate from 0 to 96 kmph in 1.9 seconds with a top speed of 402 kmph whilst offering a 620-mile range (997 km).
However, the sports car never went into production. In 2024, Musk said the new Roadster had not come out yet because “it’s the cherry on the icing on the cake” and there are “other projects taking precedence before its launch”. In Tesla’s earnings release in July, the Roadster was listed as being in “design development”.
