Isaac: OpenAI-Musk Trial Courtroom Limits Outlets to One Reserved Seat
Mike Isaac · Inside the OpenAI vs. Elon Musk Courtroom · May 1, 2026 · at 1:04
New York Times tech reporter Mike Isaac describes courtroom media logistics while covering the federal civil trial between Elon Musk and OpenAI in Oakland.
“So there are reserved seats in the front row for press, but the issue is only one person per outlet gets it, and we are doing, like, live blogging for, like, the big moments, like, opening statements, and for Elon, and so myself and my colleague Cade came on the first, the whole first week, and so, so we've had a trade-off. He's gotten the, like, press, skip the line thing, and I've been with The other folks in the 30 unreserved seats in the back.”
quote is from the automated transcript, cleaned for reading: filler sounds and stutters are removed, nothing is rephrased. names can be misheard (the analysis reads context, assessments check outside sources). how →