The weekend social media skirmish between Elon Musk and Sam Altman reignited a years-long dispute over OpenAI’s transformation from nonprofit research lab to $500 billion commercial powerhouse. What started as a Tesla refund complaint evolved into accusations of corporate theft and competing visions for artificial intelligence’s future.
The exchange began Saturday when Musk accused Altman of stealing a nonprofit after the OpenAI CEO posted about canceling his Tesla Roadster reservation.
Musk wrote on X.
“You stole a non-profit”
Altman fired back Sunday:
“I helped turn the thing you left for dead into what should be the largest non-profit ever.”
He added, “can’t we all just move on?”, a question answered by Musk’s continued legal challenges.
Altman’s initial post showed a $45,000 Tesla Roadster reservation from July 2018 and his recent failed attempt to request a refund after waiting 7.5 years. Altman said.
“I really was excited for the car! And I understand delays. But 7.5 years has felt like a long time to wait,”
Musk countered that the issue was resolved within 24 hours, adding “but that is in your nature.”
The seemingly petty exchange reflected deeper grievances. Musk, Altman, Ilya Sutskever, and Greg Brockman cofounded OpenAI in 2015 as a nonprofit, but Musk stepped down from the board in 2018.
Altman reminded Musk that he wanted Tesla to take over OpenAI with no nonprofit structure at all, and that Musk predicted OpenAI had zero percent chance of success.
The personal animosity masks competing philosophies. In previous interviews, Altman expressed changing views on his former partner. “For a long time, I looked up to him as … a great jewel for humanity. I have different feelings now.”
Altman said in September.
“There are things about him that are incredible, and I’m grateful for a lot of things he’s done. There’s a lot of things about him that I think are traits I don’t admire.”
OpenAI completed its recapitalization on October 28, 2025, splitting into a nonprofit OpenAI Foundation holding 26% equity worth approximately $130 billion, and a public benefit corporation called OpenAI Group PBC.
Microsoft received a 27% stake valued at $135 billion with IP rights extending through 2032, while the remaining 47% was distributed among investors and employees.
The structure addresses what made OpenAI’s previous arrangement increasingly untenable. The company raised $6.6 billion in October at a $157 billion valuation with terms requiring it complete a for-profit transition within two years. Capital-raising restrictions that constrained OpenAI since its 2019 Microsoft partnership were finally removed.
Musk has filed lawsuits to stop the transition, alleging that Altman and Brockman deceived him into co-founding OpenAI.
In February 2025, Musk made a $97.4 billion offer to buy OpenAI’s for-profit assets, which Altman rejected by tweeting he would instead buy Twitter for $9.74 billion.
The feud has migrated to Washington with both men courting President Trump’s administration. Trump announced Stargate, intended to be a $500 billion effort to build infrastructure for OpenAI. Musk immediately bashed the project, claiming none of the players had the necessary money.
While Musk founded competing AI company xAI in 2023, raising over $12 billion and reaching a $200 billion valuation by September 2025, Altman gained immense power through proximity to the White House.
Musk gained influence through his Department of Government Efficiency role since Trump’s inauguration on January 20, while Altman donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund.
In February, Altman addressed Musk’s tactics directly: “I wish he would just compete by building a better product, but I think there’s been a lot of tactics. Many, many lawsuits, all sorts of other crazy stuff, now this.”
Asked whether Musk operates from insecurity, Altman agreed:
“Probably his whole life is from a position of insecurity. I feel for the guy. I don’t think he’s, like, a happy person. I do feel for him.”
The personal animosity obscures a fundamental question about AI development: whether the technology advancing toward artificial general intelligence should be controlled by traditional corporations, public benefit structures, or government-adjacent entities.
Both men now command resources that dwarf their 2015 starting point. OpenAI projects spending $350 billion on server rentals through 2030, while xAI plans $18 billion in compute infrastructure expansion.
Their competing approaches, Altman’s massive nonprofit-controlled commercial entity versus Musk’s government-integrated private company, represent diverging paths for the industry’s most transformative technology.
What began as a Tesla refund dispute revealed how thoroughly their partnership has fractured. The question “can’t we all just move on?” remains unanswered as both continue building competing visions for artificial intelligence’s role in society.
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