Everyone in Musk v. Altman uses luxury butt pillows

The ultimate extremists He testified on Wednesday in Musk v. Altman trial. The witnesses have only generated a few ripples, aside from the revelation that Microsoft has so far spent more than $100 billion on it. Its partnership with OpenAI. Instead of focusing on that, I wanted to offer you the frank observation that my colleague Maxwell Ziff and I can’t stop talking about it after spending nearly three weeks watching the trial.

The courtroom is filled with pillows.

Several of the hardwood benches on the right side of U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers’ courtroom are reserved for OpenAI and Microsoft attorneys, executives, and other members of the defense. About 10 people, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and general counsel Qi Zhang, took advantage of the thick black pillows — the most luxurious of which are from the Purple brand; $120 from Target — which saves their butts hours of sitting. Some pillows have rounded corners, others are square. On Wednesday, Zhang put one behind his back, a less common but not unprecedented move in the courtroom.

Greg Brockman, president of OpenAI, and his wife Anna have watched much of the experiment and have been heavy users of the pure white pillows. Judging by the tags bursting at the seams, the pillows appear to be from sleep goods brand Coop, which sells two boxes of down-filled down alternative pillows for $35.

On Wednesday, one of OpenAI’s bodyguards carried a purple handbag into the courtroom, with a pillow for each of the Brockmans. Anna gave her husband just a minute to suffer his pillow-less oblivion before she secretly passed one to him and then located it. I felt bad for OpenAI Chief Futurist Joshua Achiamwho later took Brockman’s seat but was left with none of the cushions. (Ahiam eventually got one of the more common black pillows.)

OpenAI did not immediately respond to WIRED’s request for comment.

One longtime tech attorney told WIRED that the use of pillows or cushions isn’t exactly “normal,” but noted that it’s “not completely out of the league.” He said he personally had never seen lawyers use pillows or pillows during his trials, but then again, he had “never been involved in a trial that lasted as many days as this one.”

The lead litigants in this case sit in relatively luxurious leather chairs, though the pair are showing signs of wear, so the padding may not be as strong as it seems.

The last time I was in this courtroom for hours was in 2021, where I covered parts of Epic Games vs. Apple experience. But capacity was limited at the time due to coronavirus concerns, so I had plenty of room to expand. This time, the courtroom was filled almost to capacity — about 150 people — including bench seating for up to 90 people.

I thought about bringing my personal support about an hour into the first day of the trial at the end of April, because these seats are very uncomfortable. But I didn’t want to be weak. None of the two dozen other reporters who regularly attend — including a pregnant woman — appear to have brought pillows, at least not at first. So I went through a period of six days with my butt and back hurting every minute.

Last week, after a particularly rough morning, I finally decided to bring some help. I couldn’t find a well-padded seat pad designed for stadium bleachers, so I settled for a “cooling” pad distributed in the sweltering outdoor venues of the Tokyo Olympics. After about two seconds of using it Wednesday morning for the first time, I judged it to be counterproductive. It was too small and too thin to offer any comfort. My back becomes especially tense when I furiously write notes Musk-inspired donkey cupwhich is said to have once been her own pillow.

Four hours later, I ditched the pillow completely. But I noticed that one New York Times reporter eventually gave in, and the courtroom entertainer — who had a particularly colorful pillow — remained seated on their pillows. Maybe I’ll find a better remedy for next week, when Gonzalez-Rogers hears arguments about possible sanctions.

Maxwell Ziff contributed to this report.

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