A physical trophy engraved with 'Never stop being a jackass' was read aloud in federal court during Musk v. Altman. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ordered the lawyers to read the inscription for the press before jurors entered. OpenAI employees commissioned it for research scientist Josh Achiam.
The trophy's origin is the actual legal substance here. When Musk was departing OpenAI, he pushed to outpace Google. Achiam, an AI safety researcher, questioned whether racing ahead was wise. Musk called him a jackass. The anecdote is now sworn courtroom testimony in a case nominally about nonprofit contract law.
Read the full piece for what Achiam actually said on the stand and how Altman's legal team is using internal OpenAI culture to build their case. The trophy is the hook. The testimony is the story.
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