A physical trophy inscribed "Never stop being a jackass" surfaced during the Musk v. Altman legal proceedings yesterday, delivered by Sam Altman's legal team before jurors entered the courtroom. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers requested the lawyers read the inscription aloud for the press, making the gesture public.
The trophy appears to be a gift from OpenAI employees, though the full context of its creation and intended recipient remains unclear from available details. The move represents an unusual courtroom moment in what has become one of the tech industry's most bitter disputes.
Elon Musk sued OpenAI and Altman in November 2024, claiming the startup breached its founding charter by becoming a profit-driven company aligned with Microsoft rather than pursuing artificial general intelligence for the benefit of humanity. Altman co-founded OpenAI with Musk in 2015, but Musk left the board in 2018. The lawsuit centers on allegations that OpenAI abandoned its nonprofit mission.
The trophy stunt signals OpenAI's combative posture in the case. Rather than a standard legal response, Altman's team chose theatrical provocation. The move may aim to paint Musk as petty or unreasonable, or it could backfire by making Altman's side appear unprofessional to jurors evaluating complex claims about corporate purpose and contractual obligation.
This courtroom theater reflects the larger conflict between Musk and his former protege. Altman built OpenAI into the world's most valuable AI startup, valued at over $150 billion. Musk has invested in competing AI ventures, including xAI, and uses his platform to criticize OpenAI's direction publicly and often.
The inscription's message, whether intended as humor or genuine mockery, underscores how personal this dispute