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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 transforming 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 damaged if she does not intervene to stop OpenAI from moving on 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 company partner Microsoft and said she wouldn't stop the case from moving 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 discover. He ´ ll rest on the stand," she said.

Musk, an early OpenAI financier and board member, took legal action against the artificial intelligence company last year, initially in a California state court and later on in federal court, declaring it had betrayed its founding aims as a not-for-profit research study laboratory benefiting the public great. Musk had invested about $45 million in the start-up from its founding till 2018, his attorney said Tuesday.

Musk intensified the legal dispute late in 2015, adding brand-new claims and defendants and requesting for a court order that would stop OpenAI ´ s plans to transform itself into a for-profit business more completely. Musk also 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 former OpenAI board member who likewise sits 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 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 think that she was sitting there listening to all the conversations and not telling 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 actually must not exist," she said.

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

Templeton, who Musk also named as an offender, was added as a 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 revealing issues about such arrangements on corporate boards.

The judge has handled a variety of tech market cases consisting of Apple's battle with Epic Games, wiki.rolandradio.net though she said Tuesday that Musk's case is "nothing like" that one. That case was also the last time she gave a preliminary 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 initially set for January but was held off after Musk's lawyer Marc Toberoff said his home was damaged in the Pacific Palisades wildfire.

Musk, who did not attend the hearing, has declared in the claim that the companies are violating the regards to his fundamental 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 composed contract. Toberoff said it was since the relationship between Altman and Musk at the time was "built on trust" and the two were really close.

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

OpenAI has said Musk ´ s requested court order would "cripple OpenAI ´ s organization"and objective to the advantage of Musk and his own AI business and is based upon "improbable" legal claims.

At the heart of the conflict is a 2017 internal power battle at the recently established startup that led to Altman ending up being OpenAI ´ s CEO

. Emails divulged by OpenAI show Musk had actually also sought to be CEO and grew disappointed after 2 other OpenAI co-founders said he would hold excessive power as a major investor library.kemu.ac.ke and president if the startup prospered in its goal to attain better-than-human AI referred to as synthetic general intelligence, or AGI. Musk has actually long voiced concerns about how sophisticated kinds of AI could threaten humanity.

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

OpenAI has actually sought to demonstrate Musk ´ s early assistance for the idea of making OpenAI a for-profit company so it could raise money for the hardware and forum.batman.gainedge.org computer power that AI needs.

Musk is not the only one difficult OpenAI's for-profit shift. Facebook and Instagram moms and dad Meta Platforms has asked California's lawyer general to block it, and the workplace of Delaware's chief law officer has said it is examining the conversion.

It was not clear Tuesday when the case might go to trial. Musk's legal representatives initially said they would be prepared by June after some back-and-forth with the two sides the judge suggested it probably won't be until June 2026 at the earliest, but likely early 2027.

O'Brien reported from Providence, wavedream.wiki Rhode Island.

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