eintim

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Elon Musk's attorneys dealt with off with OpenAI in court Tuesday as a federal judge weighed the billionaire's ask for a court order that would obstruct the ChatGPT maker from converting itself to a for-profit business.

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

But the judge also raised concerns about OpenAI and its relationship with organization partner Microsoft and said she wouldn't stop the case from relocating to trial as quickly as next year so a jury can decide.

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

Musk, addsub.wiki an early OpenAI financier and board member, took legal action against the expert system business last year, first in a California state court and later in federal court, declaring it had betrayed its founding aims as a nonprofit research study laboratory benefiting the general public great. Musk had invested about $45 million in the startup from its founding until 2018, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Musk escalated the legal dispute late last year, including brand-new claims and offenders and requesting a court order that would stop OpenAI ´ s plans to transform itself into a for-profit business more fully. Musk also included his own AI business, xAI, as a plaintiff.

Also targeted by Musk's claim is OpenAI's close company partner Microsoft and tech entrepreneur Reid Hoffman, a former OpenAI board member who also rests 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 "substantial concerns" 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 any person? What would the point be for her to sit there and listen to everybody, if not to communicate what she was listening? There would be no point for her to be there, which is why she really should not exist," she said.

Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn, townshipmarket.co.za has actually been on Microsoft ´ s board since shortly after the tech huge bought the task networking website. He stepped down from OpenAI's board in 2023 to with his AI start-up, Inflection.

Templeton, who Musk likewise called as an offender, was included as a non-voting member of OpenAI ´ s board in the after-effects 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 plans on business boards.

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

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

Tuesday's hearing was initially set for January however was delayed after Musk's lawyer Marc Toberoff said his home was destroyed in the Pacific Palisades wildfire.

Musk, who did not go to the hearing, has declared in the claim that the business are breaching the terms of his foundational contributions to the charity. Judge Gonzalez Rogers called it a "stretch" to claim "irreparable damage" to Musk, and called the case "billionaires vs. billionaires." She questioned why Musk invested tens of millions in OpenAI without a written agreement. Toberoff said it was since the relationship in between Altman and Musk at the time was "constructed on trust" and the 2 were very close.

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

OpenAI has actually said Musk ´ s asked for fraternityofshadows.com court order would "disable OpenAI ´ s organization"and mission to the advantage of Musk and his own AI company and is based on "improbable" legal claims.

At the heart of the disagreement is a 2017 internal power struggle at the new startup that resulted in Altman becoming OpenAI ´ s CEO

. Emails revealed by OpenAI show Musk had actually likewise sought to be CEO and grew frustrated after two other OpenAI co-founders said he would hold excessive power as a major shareholder and primary executive if the startup prospered in its goal to attain better-than-human AI known as artificial general intelligence, or AGI. Musk has long voiced concerns about how sophisticated forms of AI could threaten humanity.

Altman ultimately was successful in ending up being CEO and has actually remained so other than for a period in 2023 when he was fired and after that reinstated days later after the board that ousted him was replaced.

OpenAI has actually looked for to demonstrate Musk ´ s early support for the concept of making OpenAI a for-profit organization so it could raise money for the hardware and computer system power that AI requires.

Musk is not the only one difficult OpenAI's for-profit transition. Facebook and Instagram moms and dad Meta Platforms has actually asked California's attorney general to block it, and the workplace of Delaware's attorney general of the United States has said it is reviewing the conversion.

It was not clear Tuesday when the case might go to trial. Musk's lawyers initially 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 until June 2026 at the earliest, however likely early 2027.

O'Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island.

-------