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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 ask for a court order that would block the ChatGPT maker from converting 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 step in to stop OpenAI from progressing with its transition 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 would not stop the case from relocating 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 financier and board member, took legal action against the expert system business last year, first in a California state court and later in federal court, declaring it had actually betrayed its starting aims as a nonprofit research study lab benefiting the public good. Musk had invested about $45 million in the start-up from its starting up until 2018, vetlek.ru his legal representative said Tuesday.

Musk escalated the legal disagreement late in 2015, adding new claims and offenders and requesting a court order that would stop OpenAI ´ s prepares to transform itself into a for-profit business more fully. Musk also included his own AI company, xAI, as a plaintiff.

Also targeted by Musk's claim is OpenAI's close organization partner Microsoft and tech entrepreneur Reid Hoffman, a former OpenAI board member who likewise rests on Microsoft's board.

Gonzalez Rogers said she has a high bar for authorizing the sort of preliminary injunction that Musk desires but hasn't yet ruled on the request. She did say she had "substantial concerns" 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 telling any person? 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 must not exist," she said.

Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn, has been on Microsoft ´ s board considering that shortly after the tech giant purchased the task networking site. He stepped down from OpenAI's board in 2023 to avoid 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 after-effects 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 plans on corporate boards.

The judge has managed a variety of tech market cases consisting of 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 gave an initial injunction, in 2020, eight 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 held off after Musk's attorney Marc Toberoff said his home was destroyed in the Pacific Palisades wildfire.

Musk, who did not go to the hearing, has actually declared in the claim that the companies are breaking the terms of his foundational contributions to the charity. Judge Gonzalez Rogers called it a "stretch" to claim "irreversible harm" to Musk, qoocle.com and called the case "billionaires vs. billionaires." She questioned why Musk invested 10s of millions in OpenAI without a composed agreement. Toberoff said it was since the relationship in between Altman and Musk at the time was "built on trust" and elearnportal.science the two were very close.

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

OpenAI has actually said Musk ´ s requested court order would "incapacitate OpenAI ´ s organization"and objective to the benefit of Musk and his own AI company and is based upon "improbable" legal claims.

At the heart of the disagreement is a 2017 internal power battle at the that resulted in Altman becoming OpenAI ´ s CEO

. Emails disclosed by OpenAI show Musk had actually also looked for to be CEO and grew disappointed after 2 other OpenAI co-founders said he would hold excessive power as a major investor and primary executive if the start-up prospered in its objective to attain better-than-human AI called artificial basic intelligence, or AGI. Musk has actually long voiced concerns about how innovative types of AI might threaten humankind.

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

OpenAI has looked for to demonstrate Musk ´ s early support for the idea of making OpenAI a for-profit business so it might raise money for the hardware and computer system power that AI requires.

Musk is not the only one difficult OpenAI's for-profit transition. Facebook and Instagram parent Meta Platforms has asked California's chief law officer to obstruct it, and the office of Delaware's chief law officer has said it is examining the conversion.

It was unclear Tuesday when the case might 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 showed it most likely will not be until June 2026 at the earliest, but likely early 2027.

O'Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island.

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