The judge denies Elon Musk’s request to block for profit OPENAI but hosts the trial – The Mercury News

By Matt O’Brien and Barbara Ortatay | Associated Press

OAKLAND – A federal judge rejected Elon Musk’s request for an order from the court preventing OPENAI from converting to a for -profit business, but said that it could accelerate a lawsuit to consider Musk’s complaints against the Chatgpt manufacturer and his CEO.

The American district judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled Tuesday evening that “Musk has not demonstrated the probability of success on the substance” in his request for preliminary injunction. She proposed to have a trial in her courtroom in California this fall, “given the public interest at stake and the damage of damage if a conversion contrary to the law has occurred.”

Musk, a first investor of Openai, began a legal offensive against the manufacturer of Chatgpt and CEO Sam Altman a year ago, continuing for breaking of contract on what he said to be the betrayal of his founding objectives as a non -profit goal.

He intensified the legal dispute at the end of last year, adding new complaints and defendants, including Microsoft, and requesting an order from the Tribunal which would prevent OPENAI plans from converting to a for -profit business. Musk also added his own IA, XAI company, as a claimant, saying that Optai was unjustly stifling the business competition.

He and a group of investors recently made an unsolicited offer of $ 97.4 billion to buy a majority participation in the non -profit organization – a decision that has undermined “the demand for irreparable damage from Musk”, wrote the judge.

Openai said he had greeted the court’s decision.

Related: editorial: Musk Office for Openai explains the hypocrisy of the corporate model

“This has always been a question of competition,” said a statement from the company. “Elon’s own emails show that he wanted to merge an for profit in Tesla. It would have been great for its personal benefit, but not for our mission or our American interests. »»

Musk alleges in the trial that companies violate the terms of its fundamental contributions to the charitable organization. He had invested around $ 45 million in the startup of his foundation until 2018, his lawyer said.

Musk lawyer Marc Toberoff said on Tuesday evening that he was happy that the court offered an accelerated trial on basic allegations.

“We are impatiently awaiting a jury confirming that Altman has accepted the charitable contributions of Musk knowing very well that they were to be used for the benefit of the public rather than for his own enrichment,” said Toberoff.

Gonzalez Rogers, during a hearing last month, called him a “section” to claim “irreparable damage” to Musk, and she described the case as “billionaires vs billionaires”. She asked why Musk has invested tens of millions in Openai without a written contract. Toberoff replied that it was because the relationship between Altman and Musk at the time was “built on confidence” and that the two were very close.

“It’s just a lot of money” to invest “on a handshake,” said the judge.

The dispute has roots in an internal power struggle of 2017 at the nascent startup which led Altman to become CEO of Openai.

The e-mails disclosed by the Openai Show Musk had also sought to be CEO and had become frustrated after two other Openai co-founders said that he would hold too much power as a major actionary and chief executive if the startup succeeds with its objective of achieving a better known human AI under the name of artificial general intelligence. Musk has long expressed his concerns about how AI’s advanced forms could threaten humanity.

Altman finally succeeded in becoming CEO and thus remained with the exception of a period in 2023 during his dismissal, then reinstated the days later after the board of directors which ousted it was replaced.

Gonzalez Rogers, appointed by the president of the time, Barack Obama, in 2011, managed a certain number of cases of the technological industry, including Apple’s fight with epic games, although it declared last month that the case of Musk was “nothing like it”. This case was also the last time that she granted a preliminary injunction, eight months before the case was tried.

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O’Brien reported to Providence, Rhode Island.

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The Associated Press and Openai have a license and technology agreement which allows OPENAI access to part of the AP text archives.

Originally published: March 5, 2025 at 7.20 am PST