The high-profile legal fight over the structure and founding mission of OpenAI is coming to a conclusion on Wednesday, with jurors hearing testimony centered on an early internal clash that helped shape the company’s future and the broader artificial intelligence industry.
The latest proceedings in the federal courtroom battle involving billionaire Elon Musk, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman offered a detailed look at tensions inside the company during its early years.
READ: Elon Musk to return to witness stand in OpenAI trial (April 29, 2026)
A major moment in court involved testimony from OpenAI Chief Futurist Joshua Achiam, who described a tense all-hands meeting in February 2018 attended by roughly 50 to 60 employees. According to Achiam, Musk announced during the meeting that Tesla would soon compete with OpenAI for engineering talent, creating what he described as a conflict of interest.
Achiam testified that Musk appeared determined to aggressively pursue artificial general intelligence, or AGI, because he feared another company could reach the technology first and potentially misuse it. When Achiam called out the rushed timeline and described the approach as unsafe and “reckless,” he said Musk became irritated.
“He snapped and called me a jackass,” Achiam told jurors.
The exchange later became part of the OpenAI lore. Achiam testified that then-colleagues Dario Amodei and David Luan presented him with a joke trophy later featuring a golden jackass attached to its base and engraved with the phrase, “Never stop being a jackass for safety.”
OpenAI attorneys displayed the trophy in court to challenge Musk’s public portrayal of himself as a leading advocate for AI safety. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers declined to admit the trophy into evidence, though the moment underscored the increasingly personal nature of the dispute.
During cross-examination, lawyers representing Musk, questioned Achiam about his financial interests in OpenAI. Achiam acknowledged that his equity stake in the company is substantial and confirmed it is worth more than $10 million.
Musk has accused OpenAI’s leadership of abandoning the organization’s original nonprofit mission by building a commercial AI powerhouse with close ties to Microsoft. OpenAI, meanwhile, argues that Musk’s lawsuit comes from his frustration after he failed to gain greater control over the company years earlier.
READ: Elon Musk goes on rant against Sam Altman amid OpenAI lawsuit (April 28, 2026)
To conclude its case, OpenAI also presented recorded depositions from former board member Tasha McCauley and former Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati. Their testimony was used to show that company leaders believed massive outside investment was necessary to support the enormous computing costs required to build advanced AI systems.
With testimony nearing completion, the case is expected to move toward closing arguments before jurors begin deliberating one of the most closely watched disputes in the artificial intelligence industry.