“What the Headlines Miss About the Latest Decision in the Musk vs. OpenAI Lawsuit” by garrison

This is the full text of a post from "The Obsolete Newsletter," a Substack that I write about the intersection of capitalism, geopolitics, and artificial intelligence. I’m a freelance journalist and the author of a forthcoming book called Obsolete: Power, Profit, and the Race to Build Machine Superintelligence. Consider subscribing to stay up to date with my work.

If you've been following the headlines about Elon Musk's lawsuit against OpenAI, you might think he just suffered a major defeat.

On Tuesday, California District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers denied all of Musk's requests for a preliminary injunction, which would have blocked OpenAI's restructuring from nonprofit to for-profit. Judge Rogers also expedited the trial, which will now begin this Fall. Media outlets quickly framed this as a loss for Musk.

But a closer reading of the 16-page ruling reveals something more subtle — and still a giant potential wrench in OpenAI's [...]

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Outline:

(02:08) Does Musk have standing?

(05:19) You know who does have standing?

(06:29) Its hard to change your purpose

(07:52) Directors could be personally liable

(09:40) Why OpenAI is trying to restructure

(11:16) What happens next

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First published:
March 6th, 2025

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/dnCdqxPh5JtPp78FP/what-the-headlines-miss-about-the-latest-decision-in-the

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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