Judge rejects Elon Musk bid to block OpenAIs for-profit plan but could expedite trial on other claims

Elon Musk has lost his bid to block Sam Altman from transforming OpenAI into a for-profit entity – but a federal judge signaled Tuesday that she could expedite a trial to consider other elements of his antitrust case against the ChatGPT creator.US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said Musk and his fellow plaintiffs had “failed to meet their burden of proof for the extraordinary relief requested” after claiming they faced irreparable harm if OpenAI was allowed to complete a planned restructuring.“Given the public interest at stake and potential for harm if a conversion contrary to law occurred, the Court is prepared to expedite trial to the fall of 2025,” Rogers wrote in her decision.Filed last year, Musk’s lawsuit named OpenAI, Altman, investor Microsoft, billionaire Reid Hoffman and others as co-defendants.His suit alleges that OpenAI violated antitrust law and abandoned its original goal of developing AI to benefit humanity while transforming from a “tax-exempt charity to a $157 billion for-profit, market-paralyzing gorgon.”During a hearing last month, the judge said Musk’s claims of irreparable harm were a “stretch” but expressed openness to a trial, so long as the billionaire took the stand to testify.“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,” Musk attorney Marc Toberoff said in a statement on the judge’s ruling.Musk co-founded OpenAI alongside Altman in 2015 and served as its key early investor, pouring about $45 million into the startup over a three-year span.He later exited the firm after disagreements about its long-term direction.

Musk has since founded an artificial intelligence startup, xAI, that directly competes with OpenAI.The public tussle between the two billionaires escalated last month after Musk made an unsolicited $97.4 billion to take control of OpenAI.The offer was...