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OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Elon Musk's attorneys faced off with OpenAI in court Tuesday as a federal judge weighed the billionaire's demand for a court order that would block the ChatGPT maker from converting itself to a for-profit business.

U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said it was a "stretch" for drapia.org Musk to claim he will be irreparably harmed if she doesn't intervene to stop OpenAI from progressing with its shift from a nonprofit research study laboratory to a for-profit corporation.

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

Musk, an early OpenAI financier and board member, took legal action against the synthetic intelligence company last year, first in a California state court and utahsyardsale.com later on in federal court, declaring it had betrayed its starting aims as a not-for-profit research lab benefiting the public great. Musk had actually invested about $45 million in the start-up from its starting up until 2018, his attorney said Tuesday.

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

Also targeted by Musk's claim is OpenAI's close service partner Microsoft and tech business owner Reid Hoffman, morphomics.science a previous OpenAI board member who also rests 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 request. She did say she had "significant issues" with 2 people 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 conversations and not informing 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 actually needs to not exist," she said.

Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn, has been on Microsoft ´ s board given that quickly after the tech giant purchased the job networking site. He stepped down from OpenAI's board in 2023 to prevent conflicts with his AI start-up, Inflection.

Templeton, it-viking.ch who Musk also called as a defendant, 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 on, 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 dealt with a variety of tech market cases including Apple's battle with Epic Games, though she said Tuesday that Musk's case is "nothing like" that a person. That case was also the last time she granted an initial injunction, in 2020, 8 months before the case went to trial.

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

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

Musk, who did not go to the hearing, has alleged in the claim that the companies are violating the terms of his fundamental contributions to the charity. Judge Gonzalez Rogers called it a "stretch" to claim "irreparable harm" to Musk, and called the case "billionaires vs. billionaires." She questioned why Musk invested tens of millions in OpenAI without a composed contract. Toberoff said it was since the relationship in between Altman and Musk at the time was "constructed on trust" and the 2 were really close.

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

OpenAI has said Musk ´ s requested court order would "cripple OpenAI ´ s service"and mission to the benefit of Musk and his own AI business and is based upon "far-fetched" legal claims.

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

. Emails revealed by OpenAI show Musk had actually likewise looked for to be CEO and grew disappointed after 2 other OpenAI co-founders said he would hold excessive power as a significant shareholder and president if the start-up prospered in its goal to attain better-than-human AI understood as artificial basic intelligence, or AGI. Musk has actually long voiced concerns about how sophisticated forms of AI could threaten humankind.

Altman ultimately succeeded in becoming CEO and has actually remained so except for a period in 2023 when he was fired and after that reinstated days later on after the board that ousted him was changed.

OpenAI has actually looked for wiki.vifm.info to demonstrate Musk ´ s early support for the idea of making OpenAI a for-profit organization so it might raise cash for the hardware and computer power that AI needs.

Musk is not the only one challenging 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 chief law officer has said it is reviewing the .

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

O'Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island.

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