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Sam Altman Praised Tesla’s Flying Roadster Despite His Legal Fight With Musk
On October 16, 2026, Sam Altman wrote, “Wow the new roadster looks quite amazing. Tesla’s October 15 demo showed an unoccupied Roadster using suction fans and thrusters for an inverted ramp drive, aerial maneuvers and a landing.
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Key takeaways
- On October 16, 2026, Sam Altman wrote, “Wow the new roadster looks quite amazing.
- Tesla’s October 15 demo showed an unoccupied Roadster using suction fans and thrusters for an inverted ramp drive, aerial maneuvers and a landing.
- Tesla has targeted production for 2028. The Rocket version is described as invite only and not approved for public road use, so the target date should not be read as a guarantee of delivery or road legality.
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openai.comCreate a landscape editorial hero image for this Studio Global article: What did OpenAI CEO Sam Altman say on X on October 16, 2026, to praise Elon Musk’s newly unveiled second-generation Tesla Roadster, and why. Article summary: On October 16, 2026, Sam Altman wrote on X: “Wow the new roadster looks quite amazing,” followed by “Good job @elonmusk.” [4] The compliment was notable because it praised a product from his legal adversary: Musk had sue. Topic tags: general, news, general web, user generated. Style: premium digital editorial illustration, source-backed research mood, clean composition, high detail, modern web publication hero. Use reference image context only for broad subject, composition, and topical grounding; do not copy the exact image. Avoid: logos, brand marks, copyrighted characters, real person likenesses, fake screenshots, UI text, readable text, watermarks, charts wi
Sam Altman praised Tesla’s redesigned Roadster on X the day after its dramatic reveal: “Wow the new roadster looks quite amazing. Good job @elonmusk.” The compliment drew attention because it came amid a legal clash between Altman and Elon Musk. But the spectacular demonstration behind the praise needs careful framing: an unoccupied prototype performing stunts is not evidence of a production car’s general-purpose autonomous flying capability.
What Altman said—and why it stood out
Altman’s post was brief and complimentary: “Wow the new roadster looks quite amazing. Good job @elonmusk.” The timing made it notable. Musk had sued OpenAI and Altman over OpenAI’s shift away from its nonprofit commitments; on May 18, 2026, a California jury concluded Musk had waited too long to bring the claims. 2
That was a ruling about filing deadlines, not a decision on whether Musk’s underlying allegations were true. 2 Musk criticized the outcome as a “calendar technicality” and said he intended to appeal.
What Tesla showed at the Roadster reveal
Tesla unveiled the redesigned second-generation Roadster at a SpaceX site in McGregor, Texas, on October 15, 2026—nine years after first showing a next-generation Roadster concept. In the demonstration, the car climbed an inverted ramp with help from a suction system, then used thrusters for airborne maneuvers and a landing. Reports also described it jumping over other vehicles.
Some reporting described the car as unoccupied during the demonstration. That does not, on its own, establish that the vehicle can operate autonomously in ordinary driving or that the stunt’s flight-like behavior is suitable for general use. The available reporting describes a demonstration, not proof of a production-ready flying car.
How the thrusters and versions are described
The reported system uses 10 cold-gas thruster nozzles supplied by about 600 liters of compressed air. In a cold-gas system, stored gas is released through nozzles to produce thrust; the reports describe compressed air rather than rocket-fuel combustion. The demonstration also used suction fans to help the car hold to an inverted ramp.
Reports describe three versions, though the details should be treated as announced plans rather than confirmed production specifications:
- Performance: The standard version, described as having no thrusters.
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- Thrust: A version that adds rear thrusters; reports describe it as a two-seat model.
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- Rocket: The top version is described as invite-only, with a full thruster system. Tesla’s listing was reported to say it is not approved for public-road use.
Tesla said production would begin in 2028, but that is a future target—not a delivery guarantee. Reporting also noted that the company had not named a price at the reveal. 3 The Rocket’s reported road-use restriction is a separate limitation: a planned production date does not mean that version can be driven on public roads.
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What is the short answer to "Sam Altman Praised Tesla’s Flying Roadster Despite His Legal Fight With Musk"?
On October 16, 2026, Sam Altman wrote, “Wow the new roadster looks quite amazing.
What are the key points to validate first?
On October 16, 2026, Sam Altman wrote, “Wow the new roadster looks quite amazing. Tesla’s October 15 demo showed an unoccupied Roadster using suction fans and thrusters for an inverted ramp drive, aerial maneuvers and a landing.
What should I do next in practice?
Tesla has targeted production for 2028. The Rocket version is described as invite only and not approved for public road use, so the target date should not be read as a guarantee of delivery or road legality.
Sources
bbc.comMusk loses OpenAI court battle as he waited too long to sue
techcrunch.comTesla reveals SpaceX-powered Roadster that flies and falls with style | TechCrunch