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OAKLAND, pediascape.science Calif. (AP) - Elon Musk's lawyers dealt with 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 hurt if she doesn't intervene to stop OpenAI from moving on with its shift from a nonprofit research study laboratory to a for-profit corporation.

But the judge also raised concerns 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 saying is real. We ´ ll discover out. He ´ ll rest on the stand," she said.

Musk, an early OpenAI financier and board member, took legal action against the artificial intelligence company in 2015, initially in a California state court and later in federal court, alleging it had actually betrayed its starting aims as a not-for-profit research lab benefiting the general public great. Musk had invested about $45 million in the start-up from its founding up until 2018, his attorney said Tuesday.

Musk intensified the legal disagreement late last year, adding brand-new claims and offenders and asking for wiki.tld-wars.space a court order that would stop OpenAI ´ s plans to transform itself into a for-profit business more completely. Musk also added his own AI business, xAI, as a plaintiff.

Also targeted by Musk's claim is OpenAI's close business partner Microsoft and tech entrepreneur 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 sort of initial injunction that Musk desires but hasn't yet ruled on the demand. She did say she had "significant issues" with two people 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 believe that she was sitting there listening to all the discussions and not informing anybody? What would the point be for her to sit there and listen to everyone, if not to communicate what she was listening? There would be no point for her to be there, which is why she really should not exist," she said.

Hoffman, wiki.eqoarevival.com a co-founder of LinkedIn, has been on Microsoft ´ s board because shortly after the tech giant bought the task networking website. He stepped down from OpenAI's board in 2023 to prevent disputes with his AI start-up, Inflection.

Templeton, wiki.vifm.info who Musk likewise named 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 expressing concerns about such arrangements on corporate 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 an initial injunction, in 2020, eight months before the case went to trial.

Obama designated Gonzalez Rogers to the federal bench in 2011.

Tuesday's hearing was initially set for January however was held off after Musk's attorney 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 foundational contributions to the charity. Judge Gonzalez Rogers called it a "stretch" to claim "irreversible damage" to Musk, and called the case "billionaires vs. billionaires." She questioned why Musk invested 10s of millions in OpenAI without a written contract. Toberoff said it was because the relationship in between Altman and Musk at the time was "developed on trust" and the two were really close.

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

OpenAI has actually said Musk ´ s asked for court order would "incapacitate OpenAI ´ s service"and objective 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 battle at the recently established startup that caused Altman ending up being OpenAI ´ s CEO

. Emails divulged by OpenAI show Musk had also 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 chief executive if the start-up was successful in its goal to attain better-than-human AI understood as artificial basic intelligence, classifieds.ocala-news.com or AGI. Musk has actually long voiced concerns about how sophisticated kinds of AI could threaten humankind.

Altman ultimately succeeded in becoming CEO and wiki.vst.hs-furtwangen.de has remained so except for a duration in 2023 when he was fired and after that reinstated days later on after the board that ousted him was changed.

OpenAI has actually sought to demonstrate Musk ´ s early assistance for the concept of making OpenAI a for-profit service so it might 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 Instagram moms and dad Meta Platforms has actually asked California's attorney general of the United States to obstruct it, and archmageriseswiki.com the workplace of Delaware's attorney general has said it is reviewing the conversion.

It was not clear Tuesday when the case might go to trial. Musk's lawyers at first said they would be all set by June after some back-and-forth with the 2 sides the judge showed 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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