OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - Elon Musk's lawyers faced off with OpenAI in court Tuesday as a federal judge weighed the billionaire's ask 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 intervene to stop OpenAI from moving on with its shift from a nonprofit lab to a for-profit corporation.

But the judge likewise raised issues about OpenAI and its relationship with business partner Microsoft and said she would not stop the case from transferring to trial as quickly as next year so a jury can choose.

"It is possible that what Mr. Musk is saying is real. We ´ ll discover. He ´ ll sit on the stand," she said.

Musk, an early OpenAI investor 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 actually betrayed its founding aims as a not-for-profit research study laboratory benefiting the general public excellent. Musk had invested about $45 million in the startup from its founding up until 2018, his attorney said Tuesday.

the legal conflict late in 2015, including new claims and offenders and requesting a court order that would stop OpenAI ´ s plans to transform itself into a for-profit company more completely. 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 previous OpenAI board member who likewise sits on Microsoft's board.

Gonzalez Rogers said she has a high bar for approving the sort of preliminary injunction that Musk desires however hasn't yet ruled on the request. She did state she had "significant concerns" with 2 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 think that she was sitting there listening to all the conversations and not informing 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 ought to not exist," she said.

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

Templeton, who Musk also called as a defendant, was included as a non-voting member of OpenAI ´ s board in the aftermath of Altman ´ s ouster after Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella looked for more stability on the board. But months later on, she was dropped from the OpenAI board as U.S. antitrust enforcers were expressing concerns about such arrangements on business boards.

The judge has handled a variety of tech market cases including 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 approved an initial injunction, in 2020, 8 months before the case went to trial.

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

Tuesday's hearing was originally set for January however was delayed after Musk's lawyer Marc Toberoff said his home was destroyed in the Pacific Palisades wildfire.

Musk, who did not participate in the hearing, has actually declared in the claim that the companies are breaching the terms of his fundamental contributions to the charity. Judge Gonzalez Rogers called it a "stretch" to claim "permanent 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 due to the fact that the relationship in between Altman and Musk at the time was "constructed on trust" and the 2 were really close.

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

OpenAI has said Musk ´ s requested court order would "disable OpenAI ´ s service"and objective to the benefit of Musk and his own AI business and is based on "improbable" legal claims.

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

. Emails divulged by OpenAI reveal Musk had actually also sought to be CEO and grew frustrated after two other OpenAI co-founders said he would hold excessive power as a major shareholder and president if the start-up prospered in its objective to attain better-than-human AI called synthetic general intelligence, or AGI. Musk has long voiced concerns about how sophisticated types of AI might threaten humanity.

Altman ultimately succeeded in ending up being CEO and has actually remained so other than for [forum.kepri.bawaslu.go.id](https://forum.kepri.bawaslu.go.id/index.php?action=profile