Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI has spawned a symbolic side drama: a disputed insult from 2018 and a tongue‑in‑cheek “jackass” trophy that jurors were told about but never saw.

In February 2018, during an OpenAI all‑hands meeting ahead of Musk’s departure, research scientist Joshua Achiam challenged Musk’s desire to “race towards AGI,” warning that such speed sounded “fairly unsafe” and “reckless.” Musk, he testified to a federal jury, “snapped and called me a jackass” in front of roughly 50–60 employees, framing the clash as a dispute over AI safety and the pace of development.¹

Years later, OpenAI staff commemorated the incident with a small trophy inscribed, “Never stop being a jackass,” presented to Achiam for “standing up to Elon” on safety concerns.² Coverage from the trial described it simply as “the jackass trophy,” which observers initially expected the jury might see.³

As the Musk v. Altman trial unfolded in May 2026, Achiam’s testimony was used by OpenAI’s legal team to challenge Musk’s self‑portrayal as primarily motivated by AI safety. Business Insider reported that the account of the 2018 exchange was intended to undercut Musk’s narrative that his lawsuit is about preventing AI from causing “serious harm.”¹

Musk, testifying separately, disputed the insult. According to live reporting from the courtroom, “In his testimony, Musk said he never called anyone a jackass,” allowing only that he might have said, “Don’t be a jackass.”⁴

Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ultimately ruled that jurors could hear about the trophy but would not be shown it unless Musk’s team opened the door to its introduction. One reporter summarized the result: “No trophy for the jury,” even though the object itself later appeared in press coverage.³

By the end of Achiam’s cross‑examination, trial observers noted that he was “running circles around” a lawyer without resorting to evasive tactics, reinforcing OpenAI’s attempt to cast him—and the 2018 confrontation—as emblematic of a deeper philosophical split over how fast to build artificial general intelligence.⁵