"Having carefully considered the papers submitted and the pleadings in this action, including oral argument, and for the reasons set forth below, the Court hereby FINDS that plaintiffs have failed to meet their burden of proof for the extraordinary relief requested and DENIES the motion. That said, the Court is prepared to offer an expedited schedule on the core claims driving this litigation, while staying the balance. Such an approach would be more efficient and address the issues which are allegedly more urgent in terms of public, not private, considerations." - Yvonne Gonzales Rogers, U.S. District Court Judge, March 4, 2025
U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled on Tuesday that “Musk has not demonstrated likelihood of success on the merits” in his request for a preliminary injunction. However, as the AP reported, Gonzales Rogers offered to hold a trial in her California courtroom as soon as this fall, “given the public interest at stake and potential for harm if a conversion contrary to law occurred.”
Musk, who was an early OpenAI investor, began a legal offensive against the company and its CEO Sam Altman a year ago, suing for breach of contract over what Musk claimed was the betrayal of its founding aims as a nonprofit. According to the AP:
[Musk] escalated the legal dispute late last year, adding new claims and defendants, including Microsoft, and asking for a court order that would stop OpenAI’s plans to convert itself into a for-profit business. Musk also added his own AI company, xAI, as a plaintiff, claiming that OpenAI was unfairly stifling business competition.
In a hearing last month, Gonzalez Rogers called it a “stretch” for Musk to claim “irreparable harm," and she called the case “billionaires vs. billionaires.”
The judge questioned why Musk invested a reported $45 million in OpenAI without a written contract. Musk's attorney Marc Toberoff responded that it was because the relationship between Altman and Musk at the time was “built on trust” and the two were very close.
Gonzales Rogers responded, “That is just a lot of money” to invest “on a handshake.”
OpenAI was founded in 2015. The dispute began with an internal power struggle in 2017 that led to Musk leaving the company the following year, with Altman ultimately becoming CEO in 2019.
A complete copy of the Order Denying Preliminary Injunction can be found here.
