Some fantastically weird protest art is popping up outside the OpenAI trial

On April 27, jury selection began at the Oakland, California, federal courthouse for a high-stakes legal showdown between tech CEOs Elon Musk and Sam Altman. Outside the building, a giant cardboard cutout of Musk (dripping wet in a pair of swim shorts) stared down onlookers, while someone in a robot costume led two protestors around in chains.

These visual spectacles are part of a larger protest that’s emerging around the trial—which began with opening arguments on April 28—and the two widely disliked tech bros at its center. The trial stems from a lawsuit, filed by Musk in 2024, which argues that ChatGPT-maker Open AI and its CEO, Altman, abandoned the company’s original mission to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity and not for profit. Musk provided key funding for OpenAI when it was founded back in 2015, before ultimately falling out with Altman over his vision for the company and founding a competitor, xAI, in 2023. 

Essentially, the trial amounts to two of the world’s richest and most powerful men duking it out over what the future of AI should look like and airing their personal dirty laundry in the process. In response, on-the-ground protestors at the courthouse are using creative works of art to convey one central message: “Everyone sucks here.”

“Whoever wins, we lose”

The most prominent group organizing outside the Musk v. Altman trial is Tesla Takedown, an action coalition that led nationwide protests against Tesla dealerships in 2025. In a post to the site Action Network, the group announced a gathering on April 27 that it called “Musk vs Altman: Whoever Wins, We Lose.”

“Elon Musk is losing the AI arms race as xAI flails and stumbles,” the post reads. “If he wins this case, he severely damages the leader and gives himself a chance to catch up.” Meanwhile, it continues, Altman is “helping The President build killer robots and mass surveillance” and bringing the U.S. closer to a “technofascist” state. “If there’s one thing that’s clear, it’s that EVERYONE SUCKS HERE. And that’s what we’re making our theme!”

The post concludes with a call for protestors to show up at the courthouse with signs and art related to that theme—and attendees did not disappoint. 

Monday’s protest art bore a striking resemblance to protests in Portland, Oregon, against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in late 2025, which used weaponized ridiculousness—like animal costumes, memes, and silly songs—to punch up at the The President administration. Likewise, protestors outside the Oakland courthouse now are using humor to drum up attention and get their point across.

Inflatables, robots, and swimsuit shots

On Monday, at least four inflatables mocking Musk appeared amid the crowd. A bright red tube man, in the classic style you might see outside a car wash, waved its arms at passersby while emblazoned with the all-caps declaration “ELON SUCKS.” Someone customized a pair of inflatable punching bags with printouts of Musk and Altman’s faces, encouraging people to take a shot.

Another tube man was made specifically in Musk’s image. It parodied a moment in January 2025 when, at an inauguration rally for President The President, Musk appeared to perform a Nazi salute. Videos of this inflatable show its arm repeatedly flinging out to the side at a 45-degree angle before returning to its chest.

Some protestors outside the trial embraced a kind of performance art to make a statement. One video taken at the scene shows an individual dressed in a retro sci-fi robot costume, complete with red eyes and a boxy head, wearing the title “Altman’s AI enslaver” below an image of OpenAI’s logo. The robot holds chains linked to the necks of two other protestors. 

Other people on the scene opted for more typical modes of visual protest: There were plenty of signs featuring mottoes like “Sam Altman, stop lying,” and “Quit ChatGPT,” as well as the aforementioned life-size cutout of Musk in a swimsuit. One of the most quietly striking works of art to emerge was a poster featuring Musk’s face superimposed onto a writhing, multi-limbed creature looming over a mother bottle-feeding her baby. Above this image, the caption reads, “The Creep State is watching!”

The poster is the work of the Creep State, an organization that started as a Reddit page dedicated to discussing what it calls “tech broligarchy” that has since morphed into an action group creating art to protest figures including Musk, Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, Bill Gates, Marc Andreessen, and others. The group’s work uses 1984-esque visuals and messaging, inspired by B-horror and comic books, to cultivate a sense of dread around America’s most controversial figures in tech.

In a statement to Fast Company, a spokesperson from the Creep State explained, “Guerrilla art has been part of movements against tyranny and fascism for generations. This time around, the boot of tyranny is being built by people who want to replace all human creativity, thought, and agency with slop generated by machines. We wanted to anchor our small piece of this movement in human-generated art that sparks the imagination and encourages people to connect in a different way.”

Through all of these works, protestors are striking a balance between poking fun at the inherent silliness of the feud at its core while simultaneously drawing viewers’ attention to the very real power that both men wield over the average American.

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