OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Elon Musk's lawyers dealt with off 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 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 does not intervene to stop OpenAI from moving forward with its shift from a nonprofit lab to a for-profit corporation.
But the judge also raised issues about OpenAI and its relationship with service partner Microsoft and said she wouldn't stop the case from transferring to trial as soon as next year so a jury can decide.
"It is possible that what Mr. Musk is stating is real. We ´ ll find out. He ´ ll rest on the stand," she said.
Musk, an early OpenAI investor and board member, took legal action against the expert system business in 2015, first in a California state court and later on in federal court, alleging it had actually betrayed its starting aims as a nonprofit research study laboratory benefiting the general public great. Musk had actually invested about $45 million in the start-up from its founding up until 2018, his legal representative said Tuesday.
Musk escalated the legal disagreement late in 2015, adding brand-new claims and accuseds and requesting a court order that would stop OpenAI ´ s plans to convert itself into a for-profit organization more completely. Musk likewise included his own AI company, xAI, as a plaintiff.
Also targeted by Musk's claim is OpenAI's close organization partner Microsoft and tech entrepreneur 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 preliminary injunction that Musk wants however hasn't yet ruled on the request. She did say she had "considerable concerns" with 2 individuals connected to Microsoft on OpenAI's board - Hoffman and longtime Microsoft executive Deanna Templeton, who was a "non-voting observer."
"So you want me to believe that she was sitting there listening to all the conversations and not informing 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 actually must not be there," she said.
Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn, has actually been on Microsoft ´ s board considering that soon after the tech huge bought the job networking website. He stepped down from in 2023 to avoid conflicts with his AI startup, Inflection.
Templeton, who Musk likewise called as a defendant, 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 concerns about such arrangements on corporate boards.
The judge has actually managed a number of tech industry cases consisting of Apple's battle with Epic Games, though she said Tuesday that Musk's case is "absolutely nothing like" that a person. That case was likewise the last time she approved a preliminary injunction, in 2020, 8 months before the case went to trial.
Then-President Barack Obama selected Gonzalez Rogers to the federal bench in 2011.
Tuesday's hearing was originally set for January however was delayed after Musk's attorney Marc Toberoff said his house was ruined in the Pacific Palisades wildfire.
Musk, who did not attend the hearing, has alleged in the claim that the companies are breaking the terms of his fundamental contributions to the charity. Judge Gonzalez Rogers called it a "stretch" to claim "permanent harm" to Musk, and called the case "billionaires vs. billionaires." She questioned why Musk invested 10s of millions in OpenAI without a written contract. Toberoff said it was because the relationship between Altman and Musk at the time was "developed on trust" and the 2 were extremely close.
"That is just a great deal of money" to invest "on a handshake," the judge said.
OpenAI has actually said Musk ´ s requested court order would "cripple OpenAI ´ s organization"and mission to the benefit of Musk and his own AI business and is based upon "far-fetched" legal claims.
At the heart of the dispute is a 2017 internal power battle at the new startup that resulted in Altman becoming OpenAI ´ s CEO
. Emails disclosed by OpenAI reveal Musk had likewise sought to be CEO and grew annoyed after two other OpenAI co-founders said he would hold excessive power as a significant shareholder and president if the start-up was successful in its goal to attain better-than-human AI understood as synthetic basic intelligence, or AGI. Musk has actually long voiced concerns about how innovative types of AI might threaten humanity.
Altman eventually was successful in becoming CEO and has remained so other than for a duration in 2023 when he was fired and after that renewed days later on 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 service so it could raise money for the hardware and computer power that AI needs.
Musk is not the only one tough OpenAI's for-profit shift. Facebook and Instagram moms and dad Meta Platforms has actually asked California's lawyer general to obstruct it, and classicalmusicmp3freedownload.com the workplace of Delaware's chief law officer has said it is examining the conversion.
It was not clear Tuesday when the case may go to trial. Musk's legal representatives initially said they would be all set by June after some back-and-forth with the 2 sides the judge suggested it most likely will not be until June 2026 at the earliest, but likely early 2027.
O'Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island.
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