A federal court in Oakland, California, ruled on Tuesday that Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, failed to secure a preliminary injunction against OpenAI. The injunction aimed to prevent ChatGPT's developer, OpenAI, from transitioning from a non-profit organization to a for-profit entity.
In her ruling, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers of the Oakland federal court noted that Musk did not meet the high standards required for a preliminary injunction. As a result, the court could not halt OpenAI’s transition to a commercial model. However, Judge Rogers expressed willingness to expedite the case, with plans to hold a trial later this year.
Musk's attorney, Marc Tobey, welcomed the court's decision. He highlighted that the judge acknowledged the case as being "in the public interest and urgent," agreeing to accelerate the proceedings. Tobey emphasized their anticipation that a jury would confirm that when Musk provided charitable donations to OpenAI founder Sam Altman, Altman fully understood that the funds were meant for public benefit rather than personal profit.
In recent years, OpenAI has been pursuing a shift towards a profit-driven model, stating that this move is necessary to secure sufficient funding to continue developing cutting-edge artificial intelligence models. In response to the court’s ruling, OpenAI issued a statement supporting the decision, emphasizing that its transformation aims to better advance AI technology.
Notably, Microsoft, a significant investor in OpenAI, has not yet responded to Reuters' request for comment as of this writing.
Last year, Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Altman, accusing them of initially inviting him to fund a non-profit AI project committed to benefiting humanity, only for the company to now abandon that mission in favor of profitability.
Musk subsequently expanded the scope of the lawsuit to include federal antitrust claims. In December last year, he requested the judge to block OpenAI's transition to a for-profit model.
Musk co-founded OpenAI with Altman in 2015 but left the project before the company gained prominence. In 2023, he launched a competing AI startup, xAI, continuing his exploration in this field.
This court ruling undoubtedly clears the way for OpenAI's commercial transformation while adding new uncertainties to the legal dispute between Musk and OpenAI. As the proceedings accelerate, this battle over the path of AI development may be approaching a pivotal turning point.
