OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Elon Musk's lawyers faced off with OpenAI in court Tuesday as a federal judge weighed the billionaire's request for a court order that would obstruct 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 damaged if she doesn't intervene to stop OpenAI from moving on with its shift from a not-for-profit research study laboratory to a for-profit corporation.
But the judge likewise raised concerns about OpenAI and its relationship with company partner Microsoft and said she would not stop the case from moving to trial as soon as next year so a jury can choose.
"It is plausible that what Mr. Musk is saying holds true. We ´ ll learn. He ´ ll rest on the stand," she said.
Musk, an early OpenAI investor and board member, took legal action against the synthetic intelligence company last year, initially in a California state court and later in federal court, declaring it had actually betrayed its starting aims as a nonprofit research study laboratory benefiting the general public excellent. Musk had actually invested about $45 million in the start-up from its founding up until 2018, his attorney said Tuesday.
Musk intensified the legal dispute late last year, adding new claims and defendants and requesting a court order that would stop OpenAI ´ s plans to transform itself into a for-profit service more totally. 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 business owner Reid Hoffman, a former OpenAI board member who likewise sits on Microsoft's board.
Gonzalez Rogers said she has a high bar for approving the kind of initial injunction that Musk desires however hasn't yet ruled on the demand. She did state she had "significant 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 believe 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 everyone, if not to interact what she was listening? There would be no point for her to be there, which is why she really ought to not exist," she said.
Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn, has actually been on Microsoft ´ s board considering that quickly after the tech giant purchased the task networking website. He stepped down from OpenAI's board in 2023 to avoid conflicts with his AI start-up, 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 plans on business boards.
The judge has actually managed a number 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 a person. That case was also the last time she granted a preliminary injunction, in 2020, 8 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 but was held off after Musk's lawyer Marc Toberoff said his home was destroyed in the Pacific Palisades wildfire.
Musk, who did not attend the hearing, has alleged in the claim that the companies are breaching the regards to his foundational 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 tens of millions in OpenAI without a composed contract. Toberoff said it was since the relationship between Altman and Musk at the time was "built on trust" and the 2 were really close.
"That is simply a great deal of cash" to invest "on a handshake," the judge said.
OpenAI has said Musk ´ s asked for court order would "debilitate OpenAI ´ s organization"and mission to the advantage 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 struggle at the fledgling start-up that led to Altman ending up being OpenAI ´ s CEO
. Emails revealed by OpenAI reveal Musk had also looked for to be CEO and grew annoyed after 2 other OpenAI co-founders said he would hold too much power as a significant investor and president if the start-up succeeded in its goal to attain better-than-human AI referred to as artificial general intelligence, photorum.eclat-mauve.fr or AGI. Musk has long voiced concerns about how sophisticated kinds of AI could threaten mankind.
Altman eventually succeeded in becoming CEO and has actually remained so other than for a period in 2023 when he was fired and after that restored days later on after the board that ousted him was replaced.
OpenAI has looked for to demonstrate Musk ´ s early assistance for the idea of making OpenAI a for-profit organization 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 parent Meta Platforms has actually asked California's attorney general of the United States to obstruct it, and the workplace of Delaware's chief law officer has said it is evaluating the .
It was unclear Tuesday when the case may go to trial. Musk's attorneys initially said they would be prepared by June after some back-and-forth with the two sides the judge showed it probably won't be until June 2026 at the earliest, but likely early 2027.
O'Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island.
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