A judge has denied Elon Musk's attempt to prevent OpenAI from transitioning to a for-profit model

A U.S. court on Tuesday denied billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk a preliminary injunction he sought against OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, regarding its plans to convert into a for-profit organization. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, based in Oakland, California, stated that Musk did not meet "the high burden required for a preliminary injunction" to halt OpenAI's transition to for-profit status. However, she indicated her willingness to expedite a trial on the matter later this year.

Marc Toberoff, Musk's attorney, expressed satisfaction that the judge "offered an expedited trial on the core claims driving this case, which, in her words, present 'urgent' issues in the public's interest." Toberoff added, "We look forward to a jury confirming that (OpenAI CEO Sam) Altman accepted Musk's charitable contributions knowing full well they had to be used for the public's benefit rather than his own enrichment."

OpenAI has been working to shift from a nonprofit to a for-profit entity, claiming that this change is necessary to secure the funding needed to develop advanced artificial intelligence models. The company stated that it welcomed the court's decision.

Microsoft, a backer of OpenAI, did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters. Musk filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and Altman last year, alleging that the founders initially approached him to support a nonprofit aimed at developing AI for the benefit of humanity, but that the focus has since shifted to profit-making. He later expanded the lawsuit to include federal antitrust claims and requested the judge to halt OpenAI's transition to a for-profit model. Musk co-founded OpenAI with Altman in 2015 but departed before the company gained significant traction, later establishing a competing AI startup, xAI, in 2023.