Musk, an early OpenAI backer, has been engaged in a legal showdown with the company and Altman for over a year, alleging a breach of contract and the betrayal of OpenAI's founding nonprofit mission.

Musk had filed a motion for preliminary injunction in US District Court for the Northern District of California, claiming that OpenAI's for-profit conversation "violates the terms of Musk's donations" to the company. But Musk failed to meet the burden of proof needed for an injunction, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers ruled yesterday.