OpenAI Drops Donkey Statue Bid in Musk Trial Over 2018 'Jackass' Remark

5 articles · Updated · WIRED · May 13

OpenAI ultimately chose not to show nine jurors a donkey-rear statue after Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said she would only consider it for corroboration and added, "I don't want it" as official evidence.
Joshua Achiam testified the trophy marked a tense 2018 exchange in which Elon Musk allegedly called him a "jackass" after Achiam warned that pursuing AGI at Tesla could compromise safety.
Musk's lawyer Marc Toberoff called the statue irrelevant and prejudicial, while Musk had earlier testified it was "possible" he used the term and said he did not mean it offensively.
The episode feeds OpenAI's broader defense against Musk's suit, which says his $38 million in donations helped build an $850 billion company; OpenAI argues he was driven by control of a leading AGI lab.

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