Judge Says Elon Musk's Claims of Harm from OpenAI Are A 'stretch'.

OAKLAND, pipewiki.org Calif. (AP) - Elon Musk's attorneys took on with OpenAI in court Tuesday as a federal judge weighed the billionaire's demand for a court order that would block the ChatGPT maker from transforming itself to a for-profit company.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said it was a "stretch" for Musk to claim he will be irreparably harmed if she does not step in to stop OpenAI from moving on with its transition from a nonprofit lab to a for-profit corporation.

But the judge also raised concerns about OpenAI and its relationship with business partner Microsoft and said she would not stop the case from transferring to trial as quickly as next year so a jury can decide.

"It is possible that what Mr. Musk is saying is true. We ´ ll discover. He ´ ll sit on the stand," she said.

Musk, an early OpenAI financier and board member, took legal action against the expert system company last year, initially in a California state court and later on in federal court, declaring it had actually betrayed its starting aims as a not-for-profit research lab benefiting the general public great. Musk had actually invested about $45 million in the start-up from its starting until 2018, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Musk escalated the legal disagreement late last year, adding brand-new claims and defendants and requesting for a court order that would stop OpenAI ´ s prepares to convert itself into a for-profit organization more fully. Musk also added his own AI company, xAI, as a plaintiff.

Also targeted by Musk's claim is OpenAI's close service partner Microsoft and tech business owner Reid Hoffman, a previous OpenAI board member who also sits on Microsoft's board.

Gonzalez Rogers said she has a high bar for approving the sort of initial injunction that Musk desires however hasn't yet ruled on the demand. She did say she had "considerable issues" with two people linked to Microsoft on OpenAI's board - Hoffman and longtime Microsoft executive Deanna Templeton, who was a "non-voting observer."

"So you want me to think that she was sitting there listening to all the discussions and not telling anybody? What would the point be for her to sit there and listen to everyone, if not to interact what she was listening? There would be no point for her to be there, which is why she in fact ought to not exist," she said.

Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn, has been on Microsoft ´ s board given that shortly after the tech huge bought the task networking site. He stepped down from OpenAI's board in 2023 to avoid disputes with his AI start-up, Inflection.

Templeton, who Musk also named as an accused, was included as a non-voting member of OpenAI ´ s board in the consequences of Altman ´ s ouster after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella sought more stability on the board. But months later, she was dropped from the OpenAI board as U.S. antitrust enforcers were revealing issues about such arrangements on business boards.

The judge has managed a number of tech industry cases consisting of Apple's battle with Epic Games, though she said Tuesday that Musk's case is "nothing like" that one. That case was likewise the last time she granted a preliminary injunction, in 2020, eight months before the case went to trial.

Then-President Barack Obama appointed Gonzalez Rogers to the federal bench in 2011.

Tuesday's hearing was originally set for January however was held off after Musk's attorney Marc Toberoff said his house was damaged in the Pacific Palisades wildfire.

Musk, who did not attend the hearing, has actually alleged in the claim that the companies are breaking the regards to his foundational contributions to the charity. Judge Gonzalez Rogers called it a "stretch" to claim "permanent damage" to Musk, and called the case "billionaires vs. billionaires." She questioned why Musk invested 10s of millions in OpenAI without a composed agreement. Toberoff said it was since the relationship in between Altman and Musk at the time was "built on trust" and the two were very close.

"That is simply a great deal of cash" to invest "on a handshake," the judge said.

OpenAI has said Musk ´ s requested court order would "cripple OpenAI ´ s service"and mission to the benefit of Musk and his own AI company and is based on "far-fetched" legal claims.

At the heart of the dispute is a 2017 internal power struggle at the new start-up that caused Altman becoming OpenAI ´ s CEO

. Emails revealed by OpenAI show Musk had actually likewise looked for to be CEO and grew disappointed after 2 other OpenAI co-founders said he would hold too much power as a major shareholder and chief executive if the startup prospered in its objective to attain better-than-human AI known as artificial general intelligence, or AGI. Musk has actually long voiced issues about how innovative types of AI might threaten humankind.

Altman eventually was successful in becoming CEO and koha-community.cz has remained so other than for a period in 2023 when he was fired and after that restored days later after the board that ousted him was changed.

OpenAI has actually sought to show Musk ´ s early support for the idea of making OpenAI a for-profit business so it might raise money for users.atw.hu the hardware and computer system power that AI needs.

Musk is not the only one tough OpenAI's for-profit transition. Facebook and Instagram moms and dad Meta Platforms has actually asked California's chief law officer to obstruct it, and the office of Delaware's chief law officer has said it is examining the conversion.

It was not clear Tuesday when the case might go to trial. Musk's legal representatives at first said they would be all set by June after some back-and-forth with the 2 sides the judge indicated it probably won't be up until June 2026 at the earliest, humanlove.stream however likely early 2027.