OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Elon Musk's legal representatives faced 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 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 damaged if she does not step in to stop OpenAI from moving forward with its shift from a nonprofit lab to a for-profit corporation.
But the judge likewise raised issues about OpenAI and its relationship with company partner Microsoft and said she would not stop the case from relocating to trial as quickly as next year so a jury can choose.
"It is plausible that what Mr. Musk is stating is true. We ´ ll discover. He ´ ll sit on the stand," she said.
Musk, an early OpenAI financier and board member, took legal action against the artificial intelligence business last year, initially in a California state court and later in federal court, declaring it had actually its founding aims as a not-for-profit research study lab benefiting the public great. Musk had invested about $45 million in the start-up from its founding till 2018, his attorney said Tuesday.
Musk intensified the legal dispute late last year, including new claims and defendants and requesting for setiathome.berkeley.edu a court order that would stop OpenAI ´ s prepares to transform itself into a for-profit company more totally. Musk likewise added 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 former OpenAI board member who also sits on Microsoft's board.
Gonzalez Rogers said she has a high bar for authorizing the type of preliminary injunction that Musk wants however hasn't yet ruled on the demand. She did say she had "substantial issues" with two people connected to Microsoft on OpenAI's board - Hoffman and longtime 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 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 needs to not exist," she said.
Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn, has been on Microsoft ´ s board because soon after the tech huge purchased the task networking site. He stepped down from OpenAI's board in 2023 to prevent conflicts with his AI startup, Inflection.
Templeton, who Musk likewise named as a defendant, was added as a non-voting member of OpenAI ´ s board in the after-effects 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 expressing concerns about such arrangements on business boards.
The judge has handled a number of tech market cases including Apple's fight with Epic Games, though she said Tuesday that Musk's case is "absolutely nothing like" that one. That case was likewise the last time she granted an initial injunction, in 2020, 8 months before the case went to trial.
Then-President Barack Obama designated 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 destroyed in the Pacific Palisades wildfire.
Musk, who did not go to 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 "irreparable damage" to Musk, and called the case "billionaires vs. billionaires." She questioned why Musk invested 10s of millions in OpenAI without a written agreement. Toberoff said it was since the relationship between Altman and Musk at the time was "developed on trust" and the 2 were extremely close.
"That is simply a lot of cash" to invest "on a handshake," the judge said.
OpenAI has said Musk ´ s asked for court order would "incapacitate OpenAI ´ s service"and mission to the advantage of Musk and his own AI business and is based on "improbable" legal claims.
At the heart of the disagreement is a 2017 internal power struggle at the new start-up that led to Altman becoming OpenAI ´ s CEO
. Emails divulged by OpenAI reveal Musk had likewise looked for to be CEO and grew annoyed after 2 other OpenAI co-founders said he would hold too much power as a major shareholder and primary executive if the startup succeeded in its objective to attain better-than-human AI called artificial basic intelligence, nerdgaming.science or AGI. Musk has long voiced issues about how advanced kinds of AI might threaten humankind.
Altman eventually succeeded in ending up being CEO and has actually remained so other than for a period in 2023 when he was fired and then renewed days later on after the board that ousted him was replaced.
OpenAI has actually looked for to show Musk ´ s early support for the idea of making OpenAI a for-profit business so it might raise cash for the hardware and computer 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 actually asked California's attorney general of the United States to block it, and the workplace of Delaware's chief law officer has said it is reviewing the conversion.
It was not clear Tuesday when the case might go to trial. Musk's attorneys initially said they would be all set by June after some back-and-forth with the 2 sides the judge indicated it probably will not be till June 2026 at the earliest, however likely early 2027.
O'Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island.
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