A federal judge has denied Elon Musk’s request for a preliminary injunction to prevent OpenAI from converting to a for-profit entity but has offered to expedite a trial to address Musk’s claims against the company and its CEO, Sam Altman.
Musk, an early investor in OpenAI, filed a lawsuit alleging that the company’s shift to a for-profit model breaches its original nonprofit mission. He also accused OpenAI and Altman of anti-competitive practices and added Microsoft as a defendant, claiming their partnership stifles competition in the AI industry.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled that Musk did not meet the high burden required for a preliminary injunction but acknowledged the public interest in the case. She proposed an expedited trial for fall 2025 to resolve the allegations.
“I don’t know what happened, but I certainly am not throwing something out on a motion to dismiss when it is plausible that what Mr. Musk is saying is true…We’ll find out. He’ll sit on the stand. He’ll present it to a jury. A jury will decide who’s right,” Gonzalez Rogers stated.
The legal dispute underscores tensions between Musk and Altman, both influential figures in artificial intelligence. Musk co-founded OpenAI in 2015 but departed in 2018 over strategic disagreements. He later launched xAI, a competing AI venture, and recently made an unsolicited $97.4 billion bid to acquire a controlling stake in OpenAI, which was rejected.
OpenAI, initially established as a nonprofit to promote open collaboration in AI research, transitioned to a “capped” for-profit model in 2019 and announced plans to become a full for-profit company in 2024.
