OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Elon Musk's lawyers dealt with off 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 converting 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 hurt if she doesn't step in to stop OpenAI from moving forward with its transition from a nonprofit research laboratory to a for-profit corporation.

But the judge also raised concerns about OpenAI and its relationship with company partner Microsoft and said she wouldn't 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 holds true. We ´ ll learn. He ´ ll sit on the stand," she said.

Musk, an early OpenAI investor and board member, took legal action against the expert system business in 2015, initially in a California state court and later in federal court, alleging it had actually betrayed its founding aims as a not-for-profit research study lab benefiting the public excellent. Musk had actually invested about $45 million in the start-up from its starting till 2018, his lawyer said Tuesday.

Musk intensified the legal dispute late in 2015, including new claims and defendants and requesting for a court order that would stop OpenAI ´ s prepares to transform itself into a for-profit service more completely. Musk also included his own AI business, xAI, as a plaintiff.

Also targeted by Musk's claim is OpenAI's close company partner Microsoft and tech business owner Reid Hoffman, drapia.org a previous OpenAI board member who also rests on .

Gonzalez Rogers said she has a high bar for authorizing the sort of initial injunction that Musk wants but hasn't yet ruled on the request. She did state she had "substantial issues" with 2 individuals linked 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 everybody, if not to communicate what she was listening? There would be no point for her to be there, which is why she really must not exist," she said.

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

Templeton, who Musk also called as an offender, was added as a non-voting member of OpenAI ´ s board in the aftermath 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 revealing issues about such plans on business boards.

The judge has actually 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 a person. That case was likewise the last time she gave an initial 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 originally set for January but was postponed after Musk's lawyer Marc Toberoff said his home was ruined in the Pacific Palisades wildfire.

Musk, who did not attend the hearing, has actually declared in the claim that the business are breaking the terms of his foundational 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 10s of millions in OpenAI without a written agreement. Toberoff said it was due to the fact that the relationship between Altman and Musk at the time was "built on trust" and the two were extremely close.

"That is just a lot of cash" to invest "on a handshake," the judge said.

OpenAI has actually said Musk ´ s requested court order would "debilitate OpenAI ´ s organization"and objective to the advantage of Musk and his own AI business and is based on "far-fetched" legal claims.

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

. Emails disclosed by OpenAI reveal Musk had actually also looked for to be CEO and grew annoyed after two other OpenAI co-founders said he would hold excessive power as a significant investor and president if the startup was successful in its objective to attain better-than-human AI referred to as synthetic basic intelligence, or AGI. Musk has actually long voiced issues about how innovative types of AI might threaten humanity.

Altman eventually succeeded in ending up being CEO and has actually remained so except for a period in 2023 when he was fired and after that restored days later after the board that ousted him was replaced.

OpenAI has looked for to show Musk ´ s early assistance for the concept 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 difficult OpenAI's for-profit transition. Facebook and Instagram moms and dad Meta Platforms has actually asked California's attorney general to block it, and the workplace of Delaware's attorney general of the United States has said it is evaluating the conversion.

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

O'Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island.

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