US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers has given a social media warning to Elon Musk and OpenAI executives. The judge presiding over the trial between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and OpenAI executives, CEO Sam Altman and President Greg Brockman, has asked both parties to avoid escalating tensions on social media. According to a Bloomberg report, US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers asked the executives involved to stop making public comments online that could worsen the ongoing trial. Her remarks came a day after Musk posted multiple criticisms of OpenAI leadership on the microblogging site X, including referring to Altman as “Scam Altman.”
What made Judge Gonzalez Rogers ask Elon Musk and OpenAI leaders to avoid social media attacks
Ahead of opening statements, Judge Gonzalez Rogers directly addressed the public exchanges happening outside the courtroom. “Control your propensity to use social media to make things worse outside this courtroom,” Judge Gonzalez Rogers said, as noted by Bloomberg.The judge’s comments followed Musk’s activity on X from earlier this week, where he amplified an investigative report about Atlman from The New Yorker. Musk also posted criticism targeting OpenAI leadership and referred to Altman as “Scam Altman.”During the hearing, Musk defended his actions, saying, “Only after they posted very publicly about this case, only then did I respond.”In response, Judge Gonzalez Rogers proposed a reset for both parties. She asked, “What if we say this: Clean slate beginning today?” Musk, Altman and OpenAI President Greg Brockman all agreed to the judge’s request, the report noted.The case focuses on Musk’s claims that OpenAI moved away from its original non-profit mission after transitioning to a for-profit structure and accepting billions in investment from Microsoft.In this trial, jury members will be required to scrutinise internal emails, texts, and other corporate documents to determine whether company officials betrayed their initial values.Several high-profile witnesses are also set to testify in this trial, which will provide more insight into OpenAI’s inner workings during its early days of operation, as well as its relations with Elon Musk, who is one of its first investors.