New Delhi: The pitched battle between Elon Musk and Sam Altman, unfolding in a federal courtroom in California after the Tesla CEO filed a case against the OpenAI co-founder, has become fodder for sketch commentary and parody on X.
A viral sketch of a confident Elon Musk sitting with his shirt unbuttoned next to a terrified Sam Altman has gone viral on the social media platform, even drawing a reaction from Musk.
Since Rule 53 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure prohibits live video feeds, photography or televised coverage of judicial proceedings, sketching by court artists becomes the only source of court ‘footage’. Official federal court sketches are detailed and unexaggerated, with labelled courtroom scenes.
An X user, with the username DINOROAR, posted the AI-generated sketch on X. “Elon Musk > Sam Altman. That is all,” read the caption.
The sketch soon drew Musk’s attention, who reacted to it with a laughing emoji.
😂
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 1, 2026
The support for Musk seems to be overwhelming, with one user on X saying, “Not sure about the six pack and the brown tan, more like a one pack walrus style white belly. But sure I am routing for Elon to make it against Scam Altman!”
Another said, “Elon Musk as a gangster would really hit different”
“Courtroom artist finally telling the truth,” a comment read.
“Finally, a courtroom sketch that explains market concentration better than most antitrust briefs,” an X user wrote.
Presiding US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers had asked both the parties to avoid posting about the case on social media. In his posts before and around the start of the trial, Musk had called Sam Altman and Open AI President Greg Brockman “Scam Altman” and “Greg Stockman”.
In his lawsuit, Musk claims that Altman — with whom he cofounded OpenAI in 2015 — duped him out of millions of dollars and turned away from the founders’ non-profit mission to focus on making money.
The AI sketch of Musk and Altman, however, got the judge wrong, showing a male figure instead of Judge Rogers.
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)