Judge Does Not Block OpenAI Conversion in Musk Case
**Judge Does Not Block OpenAI Conversion in Musk Case**
By Rocket Drew
Source: The Information
The federal judge presiding over Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI on Tuesday turned down Musk's request to block OpenAI's planned conversion to a for-profit company. Instead, District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers requested that the two parties go to trial this fall.
Musk's lawyers "failed to meet their burden of proof for the extraordinary relief requested," wrote U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in a court document. Rogers foreshadowed this outcome at a hearing last month, when she warned Musk's lawyers that "these motions are rarely granted."
Since that hearing, Musk has made a $97 billion bid to purchase OpenAI's business if the conversion proceeds. That did not change Rogers' decision, but she wrote that "it does undermine the claim" that OpenAI's conversion would irreparably harm Musk. The Tesla CEO, who donated over $44 million to help set up the OpenAI nonprofit, alleged OpenAI violated a contract with him when it started a for-profit entity.
OpenAI has said that Musk originally supported the possibility of OpenAI becoming a for-profit company by merging with Tesla.
Rogers found that Musk's claims of anti-trust violations, self-dealing, and breach of OpenAI's charitable mission did not warrant blocking OpenAI's planned conversion. In fact, she threw out two of Musk's claims, ruling that he did not have the legal standing to bring them.
But Rogers agreed with Musk that "significant and irreparable harm is incurred when the public's money is used to fund a non-profit's conversion into a for-profit." The lawyers have until March 14 to submit a response.