The stunning debut of the Roadster drew congratulations from Musk's old rival Altman, who responded calmly.

October 17 - Tesla's next-generation Roadster made its debut yesterday. During the demonstration, the Roadster utilized SpaceX cold gas thrusters and a bottom suction system to perform stunts including inverted climbing, mid-air flips, and jumping over cars, with a 0-60 mph acceleration time of under 1 second, drawing widespread attention.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman promptly posted on X to congratulate: "The new Roadster looks pretty stunning, well done Musk." As long-time public "rivals," the community was quite surprised by Altman's statement. In response, Musk did not directly offer an enthusiastic thank-you, but instead replied "Indeed" in the relevant discussion thread to teasing remarks such as "whether the previous canceled order was canceled," with a restrained and slightly mocking tone.

The two have previously had public friction over the Roadster. At the end of 2025, Altman posted that he had reserved the car nearly 7.5 years ago and it still had not been delivered, demanding a refund of the approximately $50,000 deposit and sharing related emails. Musk responded that the refund had actually been processed quickly, while once again bringing up OpenAI-related controversies. This congratulation and calm response have sparked renewed speculation about their relationship, but the core conflict has not been resolved.