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OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Elon Musk's attorneys took on with OpenAI in court Tuesday as a federal judge weighed the billionaire's ask 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 hurt if she does not step in to stop OpenAI from moving on with its shift from a not-for-profit research lab to a for-profit corporation.

But the judge also raised issues about OpenAI and its relationship with business partner Microsoft and said she wouldn't stop the case from transferring to trial as soon as next year so a jury can choose.

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

Musk, wiki.dulovic.tech an early OpenAI investor and board member, took legal action against the expert system company in 2015, initially in a California state court and later on in federal court, declaring it had betrayed its founding aims as a not-for-profit research laboratory benefiting the 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 dispute late last year, including brand-new claims and accuseds and requesting for demo.qkseo.in a court order that would stop OpenAI ´ s plans to transform itself into a for-profit business more completely. Musk likewise included his own AI business, xAI, as a plaintiff.

Also targeted by Musk's claim is OpenAI's close business 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 type of initial injunction that Musk desires but hasn't yet ruled on the demand. She did state she had "considerable issues" with 2 people linked to Microsoft on OpenAI's board - Hoffman and long time Microsoft executive Deanna Templeton, who was a "non-voting observer."

"So you desire me to think that she was sitting there listening to all the discussions and not informing anyone? 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 actually needs to not exist," she said.

Hoffman, asteroidsathome.net a co-founder of LinkedIn, has actually been on Microsoft ´ s board because quickly after the tech giant bought the job networking site. He stepped down from OpenAI's board in 2023 to prevent disputes with his AI start-up, .

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

The judge has actually dealt with a variety of tech market cases consisting of Apple's fight with Epic Games, though she said Tuesday that Musk's case is "absolutely nothing like" that one. 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 January however was held off after Musk's lawyer Marc Toberoff said his home was damaged in the Pacific Palisades wildfire.

Musk, who did not participate in the hearing, has actually declared in the claim that the business are breaching the regards to his fundamental contributions to the charity. Judge Gonzalez Rogers called it a "stretch" to claim "irreversible harm" 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 because the relationship in between Altman and Musk at the time was "built on trust" and the two were extremely close.

"That is simply a lot of money" to invest "on a handshake," the judge said.

OpenAI has said Musk ´ s requested court order would "incapacitate OpenAI ´ s company"and objective to the benefit of Musk and his own AI business and is based upon "far-fetched" legal claims.

At the heart of the conflict is a 2017 internal power battle at the new startup that caused Altman ending up being OpenAI ´ s CEO

. Emails divulged by OpenAI reveal Musk had actually also sought to be CEO and grew frustrated after two other OpenAI co-founders said he would hold excessive power as a significant shareholder and chief executive if the start-up prospered in its objective to attain better-than-human AI known as synthetic basic intelligence, or AGI. Musk has actually long voiced concerns about how innovative forms of AI might threaten humankind.

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

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

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

It was not clear Tuesday when the case may go to trial. Musk's attorneys at first said they would be all set by June after some back-and-forth with the two sides the judge suggested it most likely won't be till June 2026 at the earliest, but likely early 2027.

O'Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island.

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