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OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Elon Musk's lawyers took on 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 business.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said it was a "stretch" for Musk to claim he will be irreparably damaged 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 business partner Microsoft and said she wouldn't stop the case from moving to trial as soon as next year so a jury can choose.

"It is possible that what Mr. Musk is stating is true. 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 betrayed its starting aims as a not-for-profit research study laboratory benefiting the public great. Musk had actually invested about $45 million in the startup from its founding till 2018, his attorney said Tuesday.

Musk escalated the legal dispute late in 2015, adding 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 fully. Musk likewise included his own AI company, xAI, as a plaintiff.

Also targeted by Musk's claim is OpenAI's close business partner Microsoft and tech entrepreneur Reid Hoffman, a previous OpenAI board member who also sits on Microsoft's board.

Gonzalez Rogers said she has a high bar for approving the type of preliminary injunction that Musk desires but hasn't yet ruled on the request. She did say she had "substantial 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 believe that she was sitting there listening to all the discussions and not telling 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 really ought to not be there," she said.

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

Templeton, who Musk likewise called 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 expressing issues about such arrangements on business boards.

The judge has actually managed a number of tech market cases including Apple's fight with Epic Games, though she said Tuesday that Musk's case is "nothing like" that one. That case was likewise the last time she approved an initial injunction, in 2020, 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 January however was postponed after Musk's lawyer 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 violating 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 tens of millions in OpenAI without a written contract. Toberoff said it was since the relationship between Altman and Musk at the time was "built on trust" and the two were .

"That is just 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 company"and objective to the benefit of Musk and his own AI company and is based upon "improbable" legal claims.

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

. Emails revealed by OpenAI reveal Musk had actually likewise looked for to be CEO and grew annoyed after 2 other OpenAI co-founders said he would hold excessive power as a major investor and chief executive if the startup prospered in its goal to attain better-than-human AI called artificial general intelligence, or AGI. Musk has long voiced issues about how sophisticated kinds of AI might threaten humankind.

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

OpenAI has actually looked for to show Musk ´ s early support for the concept of making OpenAI a for-profit business so it could raise cash for the hardware and computer 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 asked California's chief law officer to obstruct it, and oke.zone the office of Delaware's chief law officer has said it is evaluating the conversion.

It was not clear Tuesday when the case may go to trial. Musk's lawyers initially said they would be all set by June after some back-and-forth with the 2 sides the judge suggested it probably won't be up until June 2026 at the earliest, photorum.eclat-mauve.fr but likely early 2027.

O'Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island.

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