The last stragglers testified Wednesday in court Musk v. Altman the case. The witnesses generated few waves, except for the revelation that Microsoft has so far spent more than 100 billion on its partnership with OpenAI. Rather than focus on that, I wanted to bring you a clear view that my colleague Maxwell Zeff and I can’t stop talking about after spending nearly three weeks watching the trial.
The court is full of butt cushions.
Several hard, wooden benches on the right side of US district court Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers were reserved for OpenAI and Microsoft lawyers, executives, and other members of the defense. About 10 people, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and general counsel Che Chang, benefited from the plush black cushions—the best of the Purple brand; $120 from Target—protecting their bums from hours of sitting. Some cushions have rounded corners, while others are square. On Wednesday, Chang even put one behind, a rare but unprecedented move on the court.
OpenAI President Greg Brockman and his wife, Anna, watched most of the trial—and both were successful users of pure white pillows. Judging by the tags on the seams, the pillows appear to be from the sleep company Coop, which sells a two-pack of other down-filled throw pillows for $35.
On Wednesday, an OpenAI security guard carried a purple bag into court, containing a pillow for each of Brockman’s team. Anna gave her husband a moment to forget the pillow before she discreetly passed another one to him and settled on hers. I felt bad for future OpenAI CEO Joshua Achiam, who later took Brockman’s seat but was left with no cushion. (Achiam ended up getting one of the standard black cushions.)
OpenAI did not immediately respond to WIRED’s request for comment.
One longtime tech advocate told WIRED that using cushions or pillows is “not the norm,” but noted, “it’s definitely not out of left field.” Personally, he said, he has never seen lawyers using pillows or cushions during his trials, but also, “he has never been involved in a case that lasted as many days as that one.”
The main plaintiffs in this case sit in luxurious leather seats, although a couple are showing signs of wear and tear, so maybe the padding isn’t as tough as it seems.
My last time in this court for a long time was in 2021, filing portions of the Epic Games v. Apple. But capacity was limited at the time due to Covid concerns, so I had a lot of room to stretch. This time, the court has been filled to capacity—about 150 people—including up to 90 bench seats.
I thought about bringing my own pillow for about an hour on my first day of trial at the end of April, because, these benches are very uncomfortable. But I didn’t want to come out weak. None of the dozen or so other reporters who regularly arrived—including the pregnant one—appeared to have brought pillows, at least at first. So I went through a six day run with my back hurting by the minute.
Last week, after a very rude awakening, I finally decided to bring help. I couldn’t find a well-ventilated seat cushion made for stadium spectators, so I got myself a “cool” cushion that went outside in the hot stadiums at the Tokyo Olympics. About two seconds into using it on Wednesday morning for the first time, I decided it wasn’t worth it. It was too small and too thin to provide relief. My back strained especially when I was furiously scribbling notes about Musk’s inspired jackass trophy, which reportedly once had its own pillow.
Four hours in, I gave up the pillow completely. But I saw another New York Times reporter who finally broke down, and the court painter—with a colorful pillow—sat on their pillows. Maybe I’ll find a better solution for next week, when Gonzalez Rogers will hear arguments about possible penalties.
Maxwell Zeff contributed to this report.
This is a program of Maxwell Zeff’s Model Behavior Newsletter. Read past newsletters here.
