Musk's Claim against OpenAI May go to Trial In Part, Judge Says
Musk takes legal action against to obstruct OpenAI's conversion to a for-profit structure
Musk cofounded OpenAI with Altman in 2015
OpenAI argues for-profit move required for capital
Nonprofit to for-profit conversion rare, professional states
(Adds judge did not choose whether to release the injunction in paragraph 5, OpenAi's legal representatives' remark in paragraph 13)
By Anna Tong and classifieds.ocala-news.com Akash Sriram
OAKLAND, Calif., asteroidsathome.net Feb 4 (Reuters) - A federal judge said on Tuesday that parts of Elon Musk's claim against OpenAI to halt its conversion to a for-profit entity may go to trial, adding that the will need to appear in court and affirm.
"Something is going to trial in this case," U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California, said early in the court session.
"(Elon Musk will) sit on the stand, present it to a jury, and a jury will choose who is right." Rogers was thinking about Musk's current ask for an initial injunction to block OpenAI's conversion before going to trial, the latest relocation in an animosity match in between the world's richest individual and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman that is playing out openly in court.
Rogers did not choose whether or not to issue the injunction Tuesday, but at one point recommended that Musk's legal team had actually not presented sufficient proof for her to release the injunction, and suggested she might hold an evidentiary hearing, where both sides could provide witnesses and evidence. The last time Rogers supplied an initial injunction remained in Epic Games' case against Apple in May 2021.
Musk cofounded OpenAI with Altman in 2015, but left before the company removed and consequently founded the completing AI start-up xAI in 2023. OpenAI is now trying to shift from a nonprofit into a for-profit entity, which it says it needs to do to protect the capital required to develop the very best expert system designs. In 2015, Musk submitted a claim against OpenAI and Altman, stating that OpenAI ´ s founders initially approached him to money a nonprofit focused on establishing AI to benefit humankind, but that it is now concentrated on generating income. He later on expanded the claim to add federal antitrust and other claims, and in December asked the judge commanding the case to stop OpenAI from transitioning to a for-profit.
In reaction to Musk ´ s claim, OpenAI has said it will relocate to dismiss Musk ´ s claims and that Musk "should be completing in the marketplace rather than the courtroom." The stakes on OpenAI's business transition have now escalated, as OpenAI ´ s last fundraising round of $6.6 billion and a new round of approximately $25 billion under conversation with SoftBank are conditioned on the business restructuring to eliminate the not-for-profit ´ s control.
During the hearing, OpenAI's attorneys said the reason to permit OpenAI to become a for-profit entity is since it would be essential to help with the objective of the not-for-profit.
Such a restructuring would be highly unusual, bio.rogstecnologia.com.br said Rose Chan Loui, executive director of the UCLA Law Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofits. Nonprofit conversions to for-profits have traditionally been for healthcare companies like hospitals, not endeavor capital-backed business, she said. (Reporting by Anna Tong in Oakland and Akash Sriram in Bengaluru, Editing by Marguerita Choy)