OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Elon Musk's lawyers took on with OpenAI in court Tuesday as a federal judge weighed the billionaire's demand for a court order that would obstruct the ChatGPT maker from transforming itself to a for-profit business.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said it was a "stretch" for Musk to claim he will be irreparably harmed if she doesn't step in to stop OpenAI from moving forward with its shift from a not-for-profit lab to a for-profit corporation.

But the judge likewise raised concerns about OpenAI and its relationship with service partner Microsoft and said she would not stop the case from transferring 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 investor and board member, took legal action against the artificial intelligence business in 2015, first in a California state court and later in federal court, declaring it had betrayed its starting aims as a nonprofit research laboratory benefiting the general public excellent. Musk had actually invested about $45 million in the start-up from its starting up until 2018, his attorney said Tuesday.

Musk intensified the legal disagreement late in 2015, adding brand-new claims and defendants and requesting a court order that would stop OpenAI ´ s prepares to convert itself into a for-profit organization more fully. Musk also added his own AI company, xAI, botdb.win 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 also rests 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 "significant issues" with two people linked 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 informing 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 ought to not be there," she said.

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

Templeton, who Musk also called as a defendant, was included as a non-voting member of OpenAI ´ s board in the aftermath 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. were revealing concerns about such arrangements on business boards.

The judge has managed a variety of tech industry cases including Apple's battle 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 approved a preliminary injunction, in 2020, 8 months before the case went to trial.

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

Tuesday's hearing was initially set for January but was postponed after Musk's attorney Marc Toberoff said his house was ruined in the Pacific Palisades wildfire.

Musk, who did not participate in the hearing, has declared in the claim that the business are breaching 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 tens of millions in OpenAI without a composed agreement. Toberoff said it was due to the fact that the relationship between Altman and Musk at the time was "constructed on trust" and the two 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 "debilitate OpenAI ´ s company"and mission to the advantage of Musk and his own AI company and wiki.eqoarevival.com is based upon "improbable" legal claims.

At the heart of the disagreement is a 2017 internal power battle at the recently established startup that resulted in Altman ending up being OpenAI ´ s CEO

. Emails divulged by OpenAI reveal Musk had actually also looked for to be CEO and grew disappointed after 2 other OpenAI co-founders said he would hold too much power as a major investor and president if the start-up prospered in its goal to attain better-than-human AI understood as artificial general intelligence, or AGI. Musk has long voiced issues about how innovative forms of AI could threaten humankind.

Altman eventually prospered in becoming CEO and has remained so except for a duration in 2023 when he was fired and then reinstated days later after the board that ousted him was replaced.

OpenAI has looked for to show Musk ´ s early support for the concept of making OpenAI a for-profit company so it could raise money for the hardware and computer power that AI needs.

Musk is not the only one tough OpenAI's for-profit transition. Facebook and Instagram parent Meta Platforms has asked California's chief law officer to block it, and the office of Delaware's attorney general of the United States has said it is evaluating the conversion.

It was unclear Tuesday when the case might go to trial. Musk's legal representatives initially said they would be all set by June after some back-and-forth with the two 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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