Musk v. Altman 在美国地方法官 Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers 的法庭上审理已经拖了将近 3 周，最后一批证人于周三作证，双方也都已结案。这篇文章聚焦于一个引人注目的法庭细节：许多到场者正靠坐垫和枕头撑过那些坚硬的木长椅，尤其是在辩方一侧，OpenAI 和 Microsoft 的律师、高管与员工都坐在那里。作者指出，Microsoft 迄今已在与 OpenAI 的合作上花费超过 1000 亿美元，但却选择转而记录法庭里的舒适经济，从厚重的黑色坐垫到由一名 OpenAI 保镖带进来的白色枕头，样样都有。
包括 Sam Altman 和 OpenAI 总法律顾问 Che Chang 在内，大约 10 个人被看到使用坐垫，有些来自 Purple，另一些看起来像 Coop 枕头，该款以 2 件组 35 美元出售。Greg Brockman 和 Anna Brockman 也经常使用白色枕头，周三 Anna 还先把一个递给 Greg，之后才拿自己的；Joshua Achiam 后来则用上了一个更常见的黑色坐垫。一名资深科技律师说，坐垫并不常见，但也并非完全不合时宜，尤其是在一场已经持续这么久的审判中。法庭本身为核心诉讼律师提供了相对豪华的皮椅，虽然有些已经出现磨损，而且房间几乎坐满，约有 150 人到场，长椅座位最多可容纳 90 人。
作者将这场审判与 2021 年的 Epic Games v. Apple 审判相比，指出当时的 Covid 限制让房间感觉更宽敞，而这一次长椅却已折磨到连记者都曾考虑带坐垫。4 月底第一天开庭后大约 1 小时，作者就开始考虑垫子，之后又连续 6 天愈来愈酸痛，最后尝试了一个来自东京奥运的降温坐垫，但它又太小又太薄。到周三大约 4 小时后，作者放弃了它，而其他观察者，包括一名《纽约时报》记者和法庭速写艺术家，则继续使用自己的坐垫。文章最后指出，Gonzalez Rogers 法官预计下周听取关于可能处罚的辩论，凸显出这场审判至今仍未解决，尽管座位问题已成为它最鲜明的支线故事。
The Musk v. Altman trial in US district Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers' courtroom has stretched for nearly 3 weeks, with the final witnesses testifying on Wednesday and the parties having rested their cases. The article centers on a striking courtroom detail: many attendees are using butt cushions and pillows to survive the hard wooden benches, especially on the defense side where OpenAI and Microsoft lawyers, executives, and staff sit. The author notes that Microsoft has so far spent over $100 billion on its partnership with OpenAI, but chooses instead to document the comfort economy of the courtroom, where items range from thick black cushions to white pillows carried in by an OpenAI bodyguard.
About 10 people, including Sam Altman and OpenAI general counsel Che Chang, were seen using cushions, some from Purple and others resembling Coop pillows sold as a 2-pack for $35. Greg Brockman and Anna Brockman also regularly used white pillows, and on Wednesday Anna passed one to Greg before taking her own; Joshua Achiam later ended up with a more standard black cushion. A longtime technology lawyer said cushions are not customary but also not entirely out of place, especially in a trial that has lasted this long. The courtroom itself has comparatively luxurious leather chairs for core litigators, though some showed fraying, and the room was near full capacity, with about 150 people in attendance and bench seating for up to 90.
The author compares this trial with the 2021 Epic Games v. Apple trial, noting that Covid restrictions then made the room feel roomier, while this time the benches have been punishing enough that even reporters considered bringing cushions. After roughly an hour on the first day at the end of April, the author contemplated padding, then spent 6 days growing increasingly sore before trying a cooling cushion from the Tokyo Olympics that proved too small and thin. After about 4 hours on Wednesday, the author abandoned it, while other observers, including a New York Times reporter and the courtroom artist, kept their cushions. The piece ends by noting that Judge Gonzalez Rogers is expected to hear arguments on potential penalties next week, underscoring that the trial remains unresolved even as its seating problem has become its most vivid side story.