Judge Rejects Musk's Efforts To Stop OpenAI Changes To For-Profit Model

JAKARTA A US judge on Tuesday 4 March rejected billionaire Elon Musk's request to issue a temporary order to stop OpenAI's switch to a for-profit business model. However, the judge agreed to speed up the trial schedule which will take place in the fall of this year. This marks a new chapter in the heated legal dispute.

US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, in tingkatnia, California, stated that Musk did not meet "the high standards needed for an initial order" that could stop OpenAI's changes.

However, in his decision, Rogers wrote that he wanted to quickly resolve the case given "the public interest involved and the potential negative impact in the event of a change that is against the law."

Musk and OpenAI have been fighting legally for the past year. Musk, who co-founded OpenAI as a non-profit organization in 2015. But he left before the company developed rapidly. Now he accuses OpenAI of deviating from its original mission, namely developing artificial intelligence for the benefit of mankind, not for the company's profits.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and his company denied the allegations. For OpenAI, the shift to the for-profit model is considered an important step to get more funding and remain competitive in the increasingly expensive AI industry.

In its response to the judge's decision, OpenAI welcomed the ruling and stated that Musk's lawsuit was "always in touch with business competition." Microsoft, OpenAI's main supporter, has yet to comment on this decision.

Meanwhile, Marc Toberoff, Musk's lawyer, stated that they were pleased with the judge's decision to speed up the trial in this case.

"We look forward to the jury's decision to confirm that Altman accepted Musk's charitable contribution knowing that the funds should be used for the public interest, not for his personal gain," Toberoff said.

The ruling comes weeks after Altman rejected an offer to acquire OpenAI worth $97.4 billion from a consortium led by Musk emphatically, simply answering "no, thank you." Altman insisted that OpenAI was not for sale and accused Musk of trying to slow down the pace of competitors.

On the other hand, a Reuters report in January stated that SoftBank Group is in talks to lead funding of up to US$40 billion (Rp698.3 trillion) for OpenAI with a valuation of US$300 billion (Rp5,237 trillion) much larger than the US$75 billion valuation (Rp1,309 trillion) mentioned in the latest fundraising of xAI, Musk's AI company.

Competition in the world of AI is heating up, and with the acceleration of this trial, the legal battle between Musk and OpenAI will be a major focus in the technology industry this year.