OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Elon Musk's attorneys dealt with off 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 converting 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 doesn't intervene to stop OpenAI from moving on with its shift from a nonprofit lab to a for-profit corporation.
But the judge likewise raised issues about OpenAI and its relationship with business partner Microsoft and said she would not stop the case from to trial as quickly as next year so a jury can decide.
"It is plausible that what Mr. Musk is saying is true. We ´ ll find out. He ´ ll sit on the stand," she said.
Musk, an early OpenAI financier and board member, took legal action against the synthetic intelligence business last year, initially in a California state court and later in federal court, declaring it had betrayed its founding aims as a not-for-profit research lab benefiting the general public excellent. Musk had actually invested about $45 million in the startup from its founding till 2018, his attorney said Tuesday.
Musk intensified the legal dispute late last year, adding brand-new claims and defendants and asking for a court order that would stop OpenAI ´ s plans to transform itself into a for-profit service more completely. Musk also included his own AI business, xAI, as a plaintiff.
Also targeted by Musk's claim is OpenAI's close business partner Microsoft and tech entrepreneur Reid Hoffman, a previous OpenAI board member who also rests on Microsoft's board.
Gonzalez Rogers said she has a high bar for authorizing the type of initial injunction that Musk wants but 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 long time 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 conversations and not telling anybody? 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 needs to not be there," she said.
Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn, has actually been on Microsoft ´ s board since shortly after the tech giant purchased 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 likewise named as an offender, was added as a non-voting member of OpenAI ´ s board in the aftermath of Altman ´ s ouster after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella looked for more stability on the board. But months later on, she was dropped from the OpenAI board as U.S. antitrust enforcers were revealing concerns about such arrangements on business boards.
The judge has actually managed a variety of tech market cases including Apple's battle with Epic Games, though she said Tuesday that Musk's case is "absolutely nothing like" that a person. That case was also the last time she approved an initial 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 wiki.vst.hs-furtwangen.de January however was postponed after Musk's lawyer Marc Toberoff said his house was damaged in the Pacific Palisades wildfire.
Musk, who did not attend the hearing, has actually declared in the claim that the business are breaking the terms of his foundational contributions to the charity. Judge Gonzalez Rogers called it a "stretch" to claim "irreversible 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 due to the fact that the relationship between Altman and Musk at the time was "developed on trust" and the two were really close.
"That is just a lot of money" to invest "on a handshake," the judge said.
OpenAI has said Musk ´ s requested court order would "incapacitate OpenAI ´ s business"and mission to the benefit of Musk and his own AI business and is based on "improbable" legal claims.
At the heart of the conflict is a 2017 internal power battle at the new startup that caused Altman becoming OpenAI ´ s CEO
. Emails revealed by OpenAI reveal Musk had actually likewise sought to be CEO and grew frustrated after 2 other OpenAI co-founders said he would hold excessive power as a major shareholder and [forum.kepri.bawaslu.go.id](https://forum.kepri.bawaslu.go.id/index.php?action=profile
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Judge Says Elon Musk's Claims of Harm from OpenAI Are A 'stretch'.
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