A federal judge has rejected Elon Musk’s push to block OpenAI’s for-profit conversion. The judge, however, opened the door for an expedited trial on Musk’s core claims against the artificial intelligence startup.
Injunction Denied, but Core Case Advances
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled on Tuesday that “Musk has not demonstrated likelihood of success on the merits” in his request for a preliminary injunction.” The judge flagged Musk’s recent $97.4 billion bid to buy OpenAI’s nonprofit as undermining his “claim of irreparable harm.”
Judge Gonzales Rogers did offer to hold a trial in her California courtroom as early as this fall “given the public interest at stake and potential for harm if a conversion contrary to law occurred,” as noted in a report from the Associated Press. This effectively keeps Musk’s core allegations alive, including breach of contract tied to OpenAI’s nonprofit roots.
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Musk, who invested $45 million in OpenAI from its founding until 2018, alleged that the firm violated its founding mission when it shifted its efforts into becoming a for-profit company.
Judge Gonzales Rogers, for her part, had previously questioned why the Tesla and SpaceX CEO invested tens of millions in OpenAI without a written contract. “That is just a lot of money” to invest “on a handshake,” the judge previously noted.
What They’re Saying
OpenAI has welcomed the court’s decision. The artificial intelligence startup stated that, “This has always been about competition. Elon’s own emails show that he wanted to merge a for-profit OpenAI into Tesla. That would have been great for his personal benefit, but not for our mission or U.S. interests.”
Elon Musk lawyer Marc Toberoff also noted that he is pleased about the judge’s decision to offer an expedited trial on the lawsuit’s core claims. “We look forward to a jury confirming that Altman accepted Musk’s charitable contributions, knowing full well they had to be used for the public’s benefit rather than his own enrichment,” the lawyer stated.
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