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OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Elon Musk's legal representatives took on with OpenAI in court Tuesday as a federal judge weighed the billionaire's demand 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 doesn't step in to stop OpenAI from moving forward with its shift from a not-for-profit research study 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 relocating to trial as soon as next year so a jury can decide.

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

Musk, an early OpenAI investor and board member, took legal action against the expert system company in 2015, initially in a California state court and users.atw.hu later on in federal court, alleging it had betrayed its starting aims as a nonprofit research laboratory benefiting the public excellent. Musk had invested about $45 million in the startup 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 asking for a court order that would stop OpenAI ´ s prepares to transform itself into a for-profit service more totally. Musk likewise added 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 former OpenAI board member who likewise sits on Microsoft's board.

Gonzalez Rogers said she has a high bar for authorizing the kind 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 long time Microsoft executive Deanna Templeton, vmeste-so-vsemi.ru who was a "non-voting observer."

"So you desire me to believe 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 interact what she was listening? There would be no point for her to be there, which is why she actually needs to not exist," she said.

Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn, has been on Microsoft ´ s board because quickly after the tech huge purchased the job networking website. He stepped down from OpenAI's board in 2023 to prevent disputes with his AI startup, Inflection.

Templeton, who Musk also called as an offender, 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 expressing concerns about such arrangements on corporate boards.

The judge has actually dealt with 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 likewise the last time she granted a preliminary injunction, in 2020, eight months before the case went to trial.

Then-President Barack Obama selected Gonzalez Rogers to the federal bench in 2011.

Tuesday's hearing was initially set for January however was held off after Musk's lawyer Marc Toberoff said his home was ruined in the Pacific Palisades wildfire.

Musk, who did not go to the hearing, has actually alleged in the claim that the companies are breaking the regards to his fundamental 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 written agreement. Toberoff said it was due to the fact that the relationship in between Altman and Musk at the time was "constructed on trust" and the 2 were very 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 service"and mission to the advantage of Musk and his own AI company and is based upon "far-fetched" legal claims.

At the heart of the dispute is a 2017 internal power struggle at the that caused Altman ending up being OpenAI ´ s CEO

. Emails divulged by OpenAI reveal Musk had also sought to be CEO and grew annoyed after 2 other OpenAI co-founders said he would hold too much power as a significant shareholder and primary executive if the start-up succeeded in its goal to attain better-than-human AI called synthetic basic intelligence, or AGI. Musk has long voiced issues about how innovative types of AI could threaten humankind.

Altman eventually prospered in ending up being CEO and forum.batman.gainedge.org has actually remained so other than for a duration in 2023 when he was fired and then reinstated days later 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 business so it could raise cash for the hardware and computer power that AI requires.

Musk is not the only one difficult OpenAI's for-profit transition. Facebook and wiki.eqoarevival.com Instagram parent Meta Platforms has asked California's attorney general to block it, and the office 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 attorneys at first said they would be ready by June after some back-and-forth with the 2 sides the judge suggested it most likely won't be till June 2026 at the earliest, however likely early 2027.

O'Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island.

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