OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Elon 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 harmed if she does not intervene to stop OpenAI from moving forward with its transition from a not-for-profit lab to a for-profit corporation.

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

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

Musk, an early OpenAI financier and photorum.eclat-mauve.fr board member, took legal action against the expert system company last year, first in a California state court and later in federal court, alleging it had betrayed its starting aims as a nonprofit research study lab benefiting the general public great. Musk had actually invested about $45 million in the start-up from its founding up until 2018, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Musk escalated the legal disagreement late last year, including brand-new claims and defendants and requesting a court order that would stop OpenAI ´ s plans to convert itself into a for-profit business more totally. Musk also included his own AI business, 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 likewise rests on Microsoft's board.

Gonzalez Rogers said she has a high bar for authorizing the type of preliminary injunction that Musk desires however hasn't yet ruled on the request. She did say she had "considerable issues" with two individuals connected 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 conversations and not informing anybody? 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 be there," she said.

Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn, has been on Microsoft ´ s board considering that shortly after the tech huge purchased the job networking website. 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 arrangements on business boards.

The judge has handled a variety 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 a person. That case was likewise the last time she gave an initial injunction, in 2020, wiki.philo.at 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 originally set for bio.rogstecnologia.com.br January but was held off after Musk's attorney Marc Toberoff said his home was destroyed in the Pacific Palisades wildfire.

Musk, who did not go to the hearing, has actually declared in the claim that the companies are violating the terms of his foundational contributions to the charity. Judge Gonzalez Rogers called it a "stretch" to claim "irreparable harm" to Musk, and trademarketclassifieds.com called the case "billionaires vs. billionaires." She questioned why Musk invested tens of millions in OpenAI without a written contract. Toberoff said it was since the relationship between Altman and Musk at the time was "developed on trust" and the 2 were really close.

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

OpenAI has said Musk ´ s asked for disgaeawiki.info court order would "disable OpenAI ´ s business"and objective to the benefit of Musk and his own AI company and is based on "improbable" legal claims.

At the heart of the disagreement 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 show Musk had likewise looked for to be CEO and grew disappointed after 2 other OpenAI co-founders said he would hold too much power as a significant shareholder and primary executive if the start-up was successful in its goal to attain better-than-human AI understood as artificial general intelligence, or AGI. Musk has actually long voiced issues about how sophisticated types of AI could threaten humanity.

Altman ultimately prospered in becoming CEO and has actually remained so except for a period in 2023 when he was fired and after that restored days later on after the board that ousted him was changed.

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

Musk is not the only one difficult OpenAI's for-profit shift. Facebook and wiki.myamens.com Instagram parent Meta Platforms has actually asked California's attorney general to obstruct it, and the office of Delaware's attorney general has said it is examining the conversion.

It was not clear Tuesday when the case may go to trial. Musk's attorneys at first said they would be ready by June after some back-and-forth with the 2 sides the judge indicated it most likely won't be until June 2026 at the earliest, however likely early 2027.

O'Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island.

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