OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Elon Musk's attorneys 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 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 intervene to stop OpenAI from moving on with its shift from a not-for-profit research 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 transferring to trial as soon as next year so a jury can choose.

"It is plausible that what Mr. Musk is stating holds true. We ´ ll discover. He ´ ll rest on the stand," she said.

Musk, an early OpenAI investor and board member, trademarketclassifieds.com 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 starting aims as a not-for-profit research lab benefiting the public great. Musk had invested about $45 million in the start-up from its starting until 2018, his attorney said Tuesday.

Musk intensified the legal dispute late last year, adding new claims and accuseds and requesting a court order that would stop OpenAI ´ s plans to convert itself into a for-profit organization more totally. Musk likewise included his own AI business, xAI, as a plaintiff.

Also targeted by Musk's claim is OpenAI's close service 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 kind of initial injunction that Musk wants but hasn't yet ruled on the demand. She did state she had "significant 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 want me to believe 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 everyone, if not to interact what she was listening? There would be no point for her to be there, which is why she in fact must not exist," she said.

Hoffman, links.gtanet.com.br a co-founder of LinkedIn, has 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 conflicts with his AI startup, Inflection.

Templeton, who Musk also named as an accused, 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 on, she was dropped from the OpenAI board as U.S. antitrust enforcers were revealing issues about such plans on business boards.

The judge has handled a number of tech market cases consisting of Apple's battle 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 gave an initial injunction, in 2020, eight 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 however was postponed after Musk's lawyer Marc Toberoff said his home was destroyed in the Pacific Palisades wildfire.

Musk, who did not participate in the hearing, has alleged in the claim that the companies are violating the regards to 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 agreement. Toberoff said it was since the relationship between Altman and Musk at the time was "developed 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 asked for court order would "cripple OpenAI ´ s company"and objective to the advantage of Musk and his own AI company and is based upon "improbable" legal claims.

At the heart of the disagreement is a 2017 internal power battle at the new start-up that led to Altman ending up being OpenAI ´ s CEO

. Emails disclosed by OpenAI reveal Musk had actually likewise sought to be CEO and grew disappointed after 2 other OpenAI co-founders said he would hold excessive power as a major investor and primary executive if the startup was successful in its objective to attain better-than-human AI understood as synthetic basic intelligence, or AGI. Musk has long voiced issues about how innovative types of AI could threaten humankind.

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

OpenAI has actually sought to demonstrate Musk ´ s early assistance for the idea of making OpenAI a for-profit organization so it could raise money for the hardware and computer system power that AI needs.

Musk is not the only one challenging OpenAI's for-profit transition. Facebook and Instagram moms and dad Meta Platforms has 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 examining the conversion.

It was not clear Tuesday when the case may go to trial. Musk's legal representatives initially said they would be ready by June after some back-and-forth with the 2 sides the judge indicated it probably will not be up until June 2026 at the earliest, but likely early 2027.

O'Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island.

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