OpenAI is bringing its ass to court

the Musk v. Altman The trial began on Wednesday with a unique motion: OpenAI He wanted to bring his ass to courtroomand presented it to the jury. It would be nice for Lady Justice to wear this headband.

Bradley Wilson, a lawyer for AI giant Sam Altman, approached US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers and handed her a golden statuette with a white stone base. It depicts a donkey’s backside – with legs, a butt, and a tail – and is engraved with the following message: “Never stop being a donkey for safety.”

OpenAI’s lawyers allege that a small group of employees made the gift to Chief Futurist Joshua Achiam, who started at the company as an intern in 2017 and now leads its work studying how society will change in response to artificial intelligence. Wilson said Achiam interrupted Elon Musk’s farewell speech for OpenAI in 2018 to warn that the billionaire’s desire to develop general artificial intelligence at Tesla might come at the expense of safety. Wilson added that the trophy commemorates some of the “strong language” Musk used towards Akhiyam in response – allegedly, He described him as a donkey.

OpenAI requested that the physical object be presented during Akhayam’s testimony on Wednesday, arguing that it adds to their case. While Musk’s team said the statue had no connection, Judge Gonzalez Rogers said she would consider allowing it when it was pointed to to corroborate the story. However, she seemed less happy about it being accepted as official evidence, which would put it in the court’s possession. “I don’t want that,” she said.

Representatives for Musk and OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the delay.

Musk’s lawsuit accuses OpenAI of effectively ripping off a charity and misusing his $38 million in donations to build an $850 billion business. In response, OpenAI said Musk was always more interested in controlling a top-notch AGI lab than funding a nonprofit.

Earlier in the trial, Musk’s lawyer, Stephen Mollo, asked him whether he had called an OpenAI employee an “idiot.” Musk said it was “possible” that he did at some point, but he didn’t mean it to be offensive. “Sometimes you have to use language that takes people out of their comfort zone, if we’re going in the wrong direction,” Musk said.

OpenAI has always been proud of its ass. when Wall Street Journal When Altman was asked about the statue in 2023, he told them: “You should have a little fun… This is the stuff culture is made of.”